Avengers Fennoscandia
by AnnOminous
Summary: After Age of Ultron; a group of unlikely recruits bolster Earth's meta-human capability. Why Finland? Why them? Who made them? Who are FIRE & what relation do these new 'heroes' have to the Valkyrie project, whatever that is? M some language & themes especially in later chapters. S.H.E. ch9 , Thor ch11 , Ironman ch12 plan for 20 ch. Anorexia, Suicide, OCD, Rape, PM/review pls.
1. Chapter 1: Lured

Ella sat on the edge staring into the light denying depths. 'Stupid' she thought to herself. "This is stupid; I should never have come by myself." Somehow speaking out aloud, even with no one around to hear, gave her self-chastisement more authority. Still she found it hard to hold herself entirely to blame for the uncomfortable twelve hour drive into Finland's frozen forested waste with the last three off-road. She decided it was not her fault at all, it had been: Eric who had suggested the original pot holing expedition, Haako who had found the damn ring and Donald who had jumped off the multi-storey car park and put himself in hospital again. The others didn't want to return without him but she was rapidly losing patience with Donald. Over the last three years the four of them had almost run out of native adrenaline junkie activities: free-fall parachuting, wing walking, cliff diving, numerous bungees and various white water activities. So much adrenaline; lives full of thrills and excitement, which made Donald even harder to fathom. He had been arrested when they had base jumped from Tampere's Solo Sokos Hotel. They would have all got away with it if he'd had the guts to jump but he'd chickened out. Donald however, had now attempted to take his own life for a third time. First he'd hung himself then he'd cut his wrists and now a fall from height. Although the eight floors he'd fallen were far less than Solo Sokos' twenty five Ella could only wonder what had changed other than the safety of a parachute?

She tried to twist the ring on her finger but it was too tight, it wouldn't turn without soap or spit, despite the cold. A simple 'silver' band Haako had found in a cave beneath this impervious darkness less than three months ago. He'd given it to her as a keepsake but it had been far too large and when she'd given it to a jeweler for re-sizing he returned it asking what it was made of? All she knew was it looked like silver but couldn't be since when Haako had found it had shone brightly without a hint of tarnish. The jeweler was astonished by its resilience and quickly given up his commission for fear of wrecking all his equipment. 'I don't work with Titanium' he had told her. Sofia, Ella's college friend, had tried to analyse it and said it wasn't Titanium or anything like it. It was an alloy, mostly iron and nickel, but there was something else that didn't make sense. She suggested Ella took it to Cern but she hadn't; instead wrapping her finger with micropore® until it fitted. 'If you can't change I guess I'll have to' she had told it but she hadn't expected that by morning her swollen finger would have pushed the tape aside and it would fit perfectly. When she'd shown her hand to Sofia she had no new suggestions 'Take it to Cern, I'm serious that just isn't right.'

She looked at the finger, now completely out of proportion with her hand, a huge digit almost half again the width of any other, it looked like someone else's; maybe it was? She'd taken a fingerprint and asked the police to check it against her records but they hadn't written back to her. Donald had insisted they wouldn't, after all she hadn't committed a crime unless it was someone else's finger and if that were the case it probably hadn't been wise to give them the print.

Eric of course had a plethora of ideas fueled by the Internet as to what precisely the ring was. His favourite was an alien device inadvertently left behind by aliens posing as Finish pantheon deities; but even with this to peek his interest he had abandoned her this time. It was the wrong time of year, there would be practically no light and he didn't like driving in the dark on frozen roads. Ella questioned if any of her 'extreme' friends enjoyed taking risks at all? Still it was getting dark already, and although it would make no difference beneath ground; pitching a tent was so much easier in the light. She would make the decent tomorrow for now she would: make a fire, cook a can of beans with sausage and try to keep warm in her sleeping bag. It was windy and snow drifted down from the firs all around, it was impossible to tell if it were actually snowing or not. A fallen tree nearby provided a natural windbreak for both tent and fire as well as a source of wood. 'Odd?' she thought as she broke off smaller twigs for kindling, the tree was lying across a thick bed of fern that the rest of the forest seemed almost devoid of. Taking her boot knife she collected a mattress of springy fronds. That evening she was amazed by the aurora's intensity clearly glowing through the thick firs and almost opaque material of her tent. Now and again it seemed to flare like a sudden burst that filled the tent with light and intrigue. She threw her thick jacket around her and ventured out.

It hung in the air, some thirty feet from her; a ball of flame the size of a tennis ball, burning with a greenish hue. Cautiously she tried to get closer to it but it seemed to move away. A frond of fern impaled in her birds nest hair fell into her eye. She stopped and tried to pull it free from the matted mess and partially succeeded, leaving all but: lesser fronds, petals and berries behind. Again the fire moved and she followed, falling into dark.

When she woke she could see faint light sixty or so feet above as snow persistently fell, motes of reflected light becoming lost to the darkness. So faint was the light she could not tell if it were the Sun rising, setting or the fullness of a moon. She struggled to remember what the moon's phase was but couldn't. Sensibly she had slept fully clothed and booted, mainly for warmth but now she wasn't warm and she was in a lot of pain. She cautiously flexed each limb, they all moved and none felt the worse for doing so, but they were all painful, just bruised she hoped. She was immediately grateful and praised all the deities remembered from the RE lessons that then had failed to impress. How ironic it would have been if she had fallen and died because Donald had failed to kill himself by falling she wondered, then it appeared again.

It flared green as before, illuminating the cave. She looked around her eyes searching the walls for the rope she knew she had secured to a sturdy pine and left dangling ready for her planned descent. It lay where it had fallen less than ten feet away. Leaning against the wall she slowly and awkwardly dragged herself to her feet and around its frosty moss less walls. It was a strong rope, virtually new and she knew how to tie a knot, Eric had taught her. She examined the end to find its polymer melted and turned accusingly to the flame bobbing in front of the narrow opening to the next chamber; it had been an awkward squeeze before and then she wasn't injured. Her mouth was dry, perhaps she was bleeding internally? She picked up some of the fallen snow and ate it before facing the glowing ball that she believed had deliberately maimed and entrapped her.

"You can fuck off." She stated not for a moment thinking whatever it was could hear. Not knowing what or why it was. Eric would have had a suggestion, probably a stupid one, but an idea none the less, she did not. Suddenly there was darkness and she was alone fumbling with numb heavily gloved fingers to find the small torch she always carried. She pulled the glove off struggled with the frozen fastener to her pocket and found the pieces she had fallen upon. She slid down the wall, sat in the snow allowing the pain to embrace her and she wept.

It was obvious that the sun would never rise high enough to light a climb and without a rope it would be an almost impossible task. She'd free climbed previously but never: this far north, in winter, at night. She sat and pondered what Eric would do, he always had an idea, often more a ridiculous fantasy than anything practical but still something. The others would then take it and shape it into something fit for purpose. They would never give up, not even Donald, and thinking of them gave her inspiration. She undid her boot and begun weaving the laces into the burnt and melted end of the rope. She planned to use the boot like a grapnel to ensnare her tent which, it was now clear, was far too close to the sinkholes mouth. If she succeeded she would be able to haul her aching body up the wall and out. She tried countless times until each attempt struck shorter and shorter of its goal; none had been near, at best three meters short. They had at least made the dimming light that was rapidly receding up the wall. Her stomach rumbled and her unshod foot was both cold and wet. She un-weaved her boot and replaced it, she would try the free climb in darkness tomorrow.

She was woken by the green ball trying to tempt her further into the caves they had explored. She remembered the narrow passage Haako and Eric had practically striped to get down into a cave beyond which for the most part was filled with frozen water. They had found an exit beneath the surface but it was even narrower than the first. It was in the entrance to that passage Haako had found the ring. It was too tight for the giant to explore at all but Donald and her had gone as far as they could with small canisters of air and waterproof torches. They hadn't found any more treasure or reached the end they could tantalisingly just perceive. Only she was small and flexible enough to slithe her way to the all too obvious opening into the unknown but she hadn't felt comfortable scraping against the sharp broken quartz in her bra and pants. This time would have been different, the boys weren't there to watch the frozen water stiffen her and she'd invested in a fine mesh wet suit with Kevlar paneling, just the job for both the stones and temperature. Unfortunately it was in her tent. 'Unfortunately!' She rebuked the thing that had she felt deliberately contrived to separate her from the equipment she needed; that was why it had tempted her down rather than just letting her wait until morning. Suddenly the green ball of fire leapt up and away out of the hole. She listened intently in the dark as time passed; maybe it was tempting someone else to the same mistake. If she called out a warning and prevented their fall they could help her out, there were spare ropes in the tent along with everything else she needed to escape. She thought of trying to investigate further without equipment or light and quickly discounted her persistent stupidity. She strained her hearing against the silence of the falling snow and stared upward for any green light more intense than the aurora that lit the fir silhouetted sky with pale, pulsing plumes.

An eternity later she heard something move. There was a feeble change in luminosity. She called out, first crying for help but then calming herself she tried to alert her potential saviour of the burning ball's true intent and the perilous pits presence. She waited for a response but heard only faint grunts as if someone was straining to move something. She stared upwards hoping the green flames would illuminate a smiling face that would facilitate her rescue. She looked on in horror as her trail bike lurched over the edge and fell. In the darkness she threw herself clear and in the process seemed to bang every bruise she had at least once whilst giving herself several more. At least she'd avoided a 250 falling sixty feet on top of her; she was still alive and intact, the bike was not. She screamed up to the glowing balls accomplice and it snarled back as it threw her tent and equipment down. She looked up and the bear looked down just once, for now, their gaze met.

Surveying the wreckage by the light of the fiery sphere that despite its obvious malevolence seemed helpful for once, she concluded that even if somehow she were able to free herself there was no way she could haul the bike out of the pit or repair it. The walk back to civilisation would be a long one.  
The ball of flame moved back to the passageway and pulsed. She found her wet-suit and changed, there was no obvious way back there was no option now but to follow her original plan. Before doing so and despite the need to survive the trek to come she made a small fire and cooked a stew from her rat-pack. Unable to find her spoon she ate it with rye crispbreads that seemed impervious to the molten snow that liquefied the powdered sachet. Then she found her: spare torch, air and hammer before carefully following the green flame into the Earth.

By now the suit reflected so much of her body's heat she had stewed and could feel the dampness between her toes. Moisture trapped elsewhere within was even more uncomfortable until it was cooled by the frigid water strewn with developing ice crystals but still liquid, if only just. The cold, tight, treacherous, sub-aqua canal was familiar but the purple crystal shards that jutted into her space grazing the Kevlar and threatening to invade her flesh had definitely grown since their last visit. Constrained she held the mouth piece tight between her teeth and reaching forward used the hammer tried to clear a path. Ahead the passage became even tighter but she could see beyond it opened upwards into an unknown that was just visible and made more certain by the balls green light. She considered the balls record to date and decided that despite the fact she could not trust it forward was the easier path by far. It was clear her canister and her head would not together squeeze through the cervix of this vestibule into the unknown and reluctantly she took her last breath and passed the air forward then reaching forward her hands found the sharp edge of crystal that circled the entrance and she began pulling herself through the un-dilated squeeze.

She snagged. It was as if the hammer shattered crystal had suddenly regrown and penetrated her. Now the protective suit held her, refusing to rip more than it already had, the crystal would easily slice her flesh but it was too tough, its resilience would be her doom rather than her defense. She pulled with all the might her girlish muscle could mount; the crystal cut into her fingers and she could just see in the greenish light beyond the clear water clouding with her blood. Although her head was through the tightest space she was still held by the impaled crystal in her thigh and the air had been taken by the currents, made by her distress, just beyond her reach.

She could hold her breath, of all of them she had made it furthest in the ice hole challenge without assistance. The twenty five meter hole; she almost made thirty before she had passed out. Today the water seemed colder and there was no one ready to save her. She moved her leg violently trying to free the unseen staple. Her wound wept warmth into the water but her frozen flesh felt no pain. Her chest began burning within. She tried to reach for the air, tried twisting in the canals confines, tried to elbow herself forward to the entrance. She was fading, her head pounded, they would have: pulled her out, given her air, rescued her but she was stupid; she was alone.


	2. Chapter 2: Afterlife

She had dreamed of death often, imagined it time after time and this was not how it was supposed to be. Never had she died alone, almost always: Eric, Haako & Donald had been around; it had been a catastrophe that they could not foresee. If it had been something easily predicted, there would be tight safety margins and precautions in place; most extreme sport was neither competitive, as sport was supposed to be, nor unsafe, they had to try hard to fool their adrenal glands. She remembered her early forays into junky territory: running along the roofs of the trains and free climbing anything that was available, the days before the boys'. Then again maybe this was how dying should be, the flash before her eyes; reliving a life well spent? Then she recalled that for the last five years she had made a living from scanning groceries, over a fifth of her years asking 'Will that be cash or card?' secretly praying someone would draw a gun and say 'neither', but no one had. Every day she waited for the call to chase as someone bolted past security with a bag full of cheap edible produce they could not quite afford this week; it never happened, clearly not all her life was well spent.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be" a deep male voice punctuated her memories "What's she doing here without the others? I don't know what you find so funny?" there was a reply just outside her fading subconscious.

She remembered happy times with her family before her parents were murdered; blown up on a commercial flight for no reason. Only years later long after the war was it revealed that the bomber was trying to make a political point but due to illiteracy had boarded the wrong plane. Stowed away in the landing gear, low on oxygen and freezing to death as she was now she wondered if he had realised the futility of his actions before he had mindlessly massacred so many? The family estate was divided between her two older sisters and herself. They had instantly put down deposits on homes, married unsuitable, boring partners and been impregnated. In a way it was fitting that new life should come from their parents deaths but then again? She had skipped out on the exams she knew she would fail, damaged and distraught by her loss; at least that would become her excuse at interview and spent her inheritance skiing in the Alps. When it was gone she worked in chalets before beaten by a drunken 'lover' once too often. Returning to Finland she stayed for a short time with each sister, dreary husbands and her new-born nephews before finally the job at Lidl awarded marginal independent security.

"We should just do it, there's no point in asking if it's what she wants." It was a different voice this time, sterner and gruff.

"He said they had to agree otherwise they would lack credibility and the whole venture would lack humour." Replied someone else, deep and male; soft yet and clearly intimidated by 'he'.

"We should wake her then but what if she say's no?" The gruff one postured impatiently. "Precisely" he continued "He never answered that did he? So what would we do kill her and find another? There are no others, these are the ones he wanted. Odin knows why; I mean look at her, have you ever seen such an unsuitable specimen?"

"Maybe that's the point, but he still said ask her so we should. Anyhow I'm intrigued as to where the others are and how she came to have the ring?"

Since her parents died times had changed. Now meta-humans had become essential important public figures. Aliens had attempted to invade the Earth, secret international intelligence agencies been: revealed, shown to be corrupt and then begun redeeming themselves, humanity had tried to use its most powerful weapons against itself and whole cities had been lifted from the planet and destroyed. For the most part these events had been dealt with by Earth's most powerful heroes who were almost exclusively American and that worried her. Where were the Finish meta-humans? Who would defend Finland if aliens or more likely Russia wandered in?

She woke warm and wet. Sulphur coated the walls, the cavern lit with no obvious source. The warm water bubbled Jacuzzi-like and she looked around confused. It was not a natural space the walls were carved with reliefs and the circular pool was rimmed by thick flagstones inscribed with runes she almost recognised. Maybe she was dreaming? She went to pinch herself but found her ring finger was missing or rather short. It looked as if it had been pruned and had begun to regrow with a tip and rudimentary nail, the ring was gone. She staggered to her feet inspecting her thigh, perfectly formed if sleight with no sign of the impalement that had drowned her.

"I assume you have questions?" came the voice she had heard before "I do too. Ladies first?" The voices owner walked from a passage to her left and instinctively she tried to cover her flat chest and sex, before deciding to crouch in the water trying to hide herself beneath the clear, warm water.

"Who are you?" She asked as a Tolkenian dwarf walked into the room. Were it not for his actual stature and bearing she would have put herself on a Peter Jackson set. Perhaps she was still unconscious, drowning, dying.

"I am a Doctor instructed to assist you in your quest. My personal name is not necessary just call me the Doctor."

"Doctor Who" she chuckled to herself, strangely at ease with this old stern faced stout as well as relieved by not being dead.

"I said my name is not important!" he repeated sounding a little irritated by her apparent insistence on one fact he was not prepared to answer or even lie about.

"No it was a" she stopped wondering if the dwarf had ever seen the time-lords stories. "It doesn't matter."

"That's what I said" he interrupted insistently.

"What happened to my ring?" she asked pointing to her missing finger forgetting that by doing so her tiny breasts would be on display and without even considering someone must have undressed her whilst unconscious.

"It wasn't yours. It was supposed to be Haako's and he was supposed to bring you _all_ here, not for you to come alone." He produced a plain black box and opened it towards her. Inside there were spaces for seven rings but the central one and the one placed at 6 O'clock in the vague hexagon were missing. There were two that were smaller, more feminine in size at 10 and 2 and he pointed at the left one. "This one is yours if you want it? After all it's why you came."

"I don't really know why I came. It was stupid."

"Surely you have some idea?" he prompted.

"Just a fantasy that it was like some alien technology and that maybe I would find more that I could use to become some kind of Finish super-heroine." She explained "I don't know where the idea came from, Eric I guess."

"So if it wasn't just fantasy? If we told you we were prepared to give you what you wanted?"

"Eric would be suspicious that you had some ulterior motive, that in some way I'd be beholden to you and compromised."

"But what would you say?" he asked.

"Yes. I'd say yes. Of course I'd say yes; who wouldn't?" He was almost tempted to answer her rhetorical question but stayed his tongue. "But I'd still like to know why?" He looked her up and down, her skinny anorexic frame, frail bones easily broken, her general lack of presence and a sense of self restraint and preservation that was clearly absent. He considered his response, she would not be his choice none of them would. The truth was he hadn't told them so he spun a deception.

"Because all of you have it in you to be heroes and a power beyond wants to give you the opportunity to be great. Serve: your country, your world, your universe." He stopped he had already gone too far but she hadn't realised; she was clearly the most pliant and he wondered why they hadn't put her ring down to be found in the first place. She was looking at him blankly clearly daydreaming of the time to come, an age of heroes. "Come." He instructed ushering her from the pool "Our time here is limited, we have to make a start if you are to recover quick enough to bring the others."

"Recover from what? I thought you would just give me some equipment." She said concerned. Not once questioning why their time was short.

"Od's beard no girl. First we have to transplant the necessary organs so you can use the equipment." He didn't dress it up, he didn't need to he already knew that the job had been done and she was convinced even without a ring, she followed.

Down the corridor there was a metal door that was out of place amongst the ancient looking masonry. The Doctor approached it, waved his hand and it hissed open before him. He entered and she followed banging her head when she tried to stand beyond the portal. There was a dull throbbing and she could feel vibration in the floor beneath her feet. The floor itself was thinly carpeted and the ceiling had panels of transparent material beyond which a light source was clearly visible. Here unlike outside they had shadows. It felt as if she had walked into a different place, the construction felt modern and decidedly 'in', moreover it was clearly designed with 'dwarves' in mind. She stooped in the corridor following him past many doors that stayed closed until he waved his hand at another and it opened.

Beyond was an operating theater which was a strange mix of high and low technology. There were two other dwarves wearing white scrubs and a huge array of lights and instruments hung suspended above the table; suspended by nothing. A motorised trolley backed into her nudging her towards the table and the objects on the trolley looked more like a tortures kit than anything that should be used in surgery. One of the theater dwarves approached her with a device and sprayed her with something that immediately dried on her warm flesh and stained her skin orange.

"I didn't think I'd get a free spray tan as well." She joked nervously a state that was not relieved by their indignant silence. The doctor left and the other surgeon gestured for her to lay on the table, uneasily she did. He began poking at her with his stubby fingers, pinching her taut skin and pulling at it harshly whilst all the time it was silent, he had no bedside manner, less than a vet whose voice was neither answered nor understood. The doctor returned with something ugly like a tendriled tumor in a glass jar. At last the surgeon spoke, but not to her.

"Are you certain about this?" He asked the doctor who it appeared clearly had some authority "I mean look at it" he poked her again. "There's hardly a gram of fat on it" he grabbed her by the nipple and pulled to emphasise her lack of breast. She wanted to sit up and slap him but found she was unable to do so; it was as if she were paralysed.

"I know" agreed the doctor "it really is a pathetic specimen but for some reason it's the one he wants."

"He has a strange sense of humour." Agreed the third dwarf who had said nothing until now as he passed the surgeon a scalpel. She felt it enter her drawing a stinging wound across her abdomen; she was surprised there was no anesthetic, not even a local and even more surprised when they started pulling out her intestines gathering them up like rope. The feeling inside her was oddly similar to being on a roller coaster and having the contents of her moved violently first this way then that. "How much of this does she need anyhow?" The surgeon looked at the thing in the jar.

"Somehow we've got to fit that in." He pointed out.

"What else is there that can go?" His assistant asked leaning over her open abdomen.

"Well she doesn't need all of this or two of those."

"What's that?"

"Sexual organs I think." The surgeon postulated.

"You're joking."

"No they are I'm almost certain. Get me the book." She could hear the turning of paper pages, hadn't these guys heard of an e-reader? She wondered if the leaves were somehow laminated to if her blood was soaking into them? She could neither ask nor move her neck to see. Perhaps it was an e-reader with very realistic sound effects? She thought.

"They are and we're to leave them in." The doctor confirmed.

"But they're so small" the astonished assistant stated. "They must be really stretchy or these humans must have tiny penes?" No one said anything else for a bit as they removed all they needed to in order to implant the thing that: throbbed, pulsed and waved its tendrils in excitement of a new host.

"Oh shit!" exclaimed the assistant.

"What?" asked the surgeon looking for the bleed or whatever else had gone wrong?

"I forgot to sleep her." He replied. The surgeon reached across and tapped on the panel by her head she had noticed earlier.

She found herself back in the pool. She felt different but not pained and inspecting herself could find no scar line. She felt both queasy and hungry; perhaps it was her hunger that was making her feel sick. She looked at her hand to find her finger had regrown exactly as it had been at the start, her finger, not that of some giant it was hers. Just when she began to consider the surgery had been a dream the doctor entered.

"Good I was beginning to think you'd never wake." He held out his hand to help her from the pool. She tried to recall if he had been courteous before but couldn't, the horror of the theater had obliterated the more peaceful memories. She took his hand and fought to rise, her abdomen hurt, her back hurt, it was painful to breathe, she was sore between her legs, she hurt so much she wasn't certain if there was anywhere she didn't feel pain. Still she made it to her feet and stumbled forward. "Just need to give you your shot, equip you and you'll be good to go."

"Won't I need training?"

"Obviously I'll tell you what you can do but that won't take long. Also we are very short on time so I'll have to give you the other packs and you'll have to use them on your friends." He was quick to respond.

"I can't do surgery!"

"No need. Loviatar was intended just for you the others will have their own curses." The doctor pointed out.

"Loviatar? Curses? What do you mean curses?" She shook unsteady on her legs and feeling fear and uncertainty begin growing within her.

"Sorry" the Doctor explained "Your language really is most awkward. I only meant that with great power comes"

"Great responsibility." She concluded "yes I know."

"That wasn't what I was going to say but if it helps you to think that way, fine." He opened the ring case and passed her hers. Instinctively almost she put it on and all her questions were forgotten. He led her to the first door in the corridor that she felt uneasy in, as if something buried in her psyche was screaming for her to flee and they entered. On what was almost an altar in front of her there were three small packages and a pile of neatly arranged stuff she took to be hers? He picked up the chain mail suit and passed it to her, it was heavier than it looked and spilt from her hands breaking a nail as it did so. "You really are a pathetic specimen of humanity" he stated exasperated by her ineptitude and frailty.

"I don't suppose I could have something to wear under it could I?" she responded. He pointed to her rucksack propped up against the wall by the door. She found underwear leggings and a t-shirt and put them on before hefting the chain mail and sliding into it as if it weighed nothing and she were aided by unseen hands.

"Seems light doesn't it?" The doctor asked "The Loviatar organ we implanted allows you to manipulate electromagnetic fields so subconsciously you support it mass. It will also allow you to create auroras of light, discharges of static and even move the suit through space allowing you to fly. It really is a wonderful design and if you ever decide you don't want it we've put everything we ripped out of you in a stasis case. He picked it up and handed it to her and she almost dropped it. "Oh sorry there's very little magnetic metal in the case and your liver offal is surprisingly heavy for such a tiny female."

"I thought _that_ was a dream?"

"No Ella you must have known you'd have to make _some_ sacrifices?" On the altar lay a sheathed short sword and shield; she held out her arms as if to conjure them to her grip and instantly they slid off, fell to the floor and scraped their way across to her. She stooped painfully and picked them up.

"What do these do?" she asked.

"That's a sword" the Doctor said pointing "careful its sharp." He cautioned as if she were a child "and that's a"

"Ok I get it." She cut him off before he could complete stating the obvious.

"There are two other things: each of you will need to wear one of these rings which allow you to communicate telepathically and you, Eric, Haako and Donald will need this injection" he stated to fill a syringe with a quarter of the glowing contents of a tiny amber vial.

"What does it do?" she asked. She hardly asked about anything and it was strange she should start having second thoughts now so close to the end.

"It makes you better dear" he stated carefully guiding the needle between the chain mail links. "It makes you better."


	3. Chapter 3: Heroism?

She woke in darkness in her tent; immediately believing it all to have been a dream, a fantasy driven by the ring. She felt her finger it was hers and the ring was hers also not Haako's. She felt about the ground for her torch but it was not anywhere she would have put it then slowly the tent filled with pale green luminescence, the glowing air revealing twisting currents formed by her breath and body heat; her own personal aurora. "Thank you Loviatar" she responded, like an excited schoolgirl, congratulating her new organ for doing its job. It seemed both necessary and bizarre "Who thanks their heart for beating?" she mused aloud and the light dimmed a little.

Looking around the tent that she could now see was clearly not hers she could see the kit she had been given both for herself and her friends. In addition there was a thin padded cat suit with the texture of silk and what appeared a Viking tunic or tabard that seemed made from her nations flag. Strangely she felt a lot hungrier than was the normal for her and emptying her rucksack ate everything that didn't require cooking. At once a week's dry rations were gone, then she ventured out to make a fire and cook the rest. It wasn't until everything she had was eaten that she realised she was naked and did not have the inclination to purge herself, despite the most serious binge of recent times. She wasn't certain if this was a good thing or not, she was comfortable with her disorders, she had lived with them for years. The thoughts left her mind as quickly as they had arrived and again she thanked her organ for helping her as she began to 'suit up'.

As well as the items for the others they had given her some instructions to follow which the dwarves version of Google translate had clearly been overpowered by. The writing was punctuated by meaningless glyphs every few words but even she could make out enough to glean an understanding. It dictated a specific order to approach her friends and specific instructions as to how they should be approached. The rings were key in this. It told her to obscure her intent and say only that she had had rings made for them that copied Haako's original and then do nothing until 'their _own_ ideas had settled in'. After this Donald and Haako would be easy to convince and after their transformations Eric would bow to peer pressure or if not something telling would occur that would force his compliance. She checked the packs contents against the itinerary:

Donald was to be given a third of what remained of the glowing elixir and nothing else besides a chain suit like her own. Haako too received a third but also a potion that looked decidedly unimpressive in its small stoppered bottle whilst Eric took the last third, a tiny pill and another chain suit. She wondered what the pill and potions purpose were. Immediately her mind leapt back to Carroll's Alice "Eat me, drink me" she said aloud; she almost never internalised her thoughts. Then she wondered why there was no armour for Haako "Perhaps he'll grow?" she concluded following the Carroll theme. She emptied her rucksack of anything not essential before gathering everything up. By now it was day light; she had not even noticed how her light had faded with the rising sun. Then she noticed the obscure notes written on the back of the page. 'Give the fifth ring to the Valkyrie at FIRE in Tikkakoski.' Then in another hand was written 'Sorry I was curious.' Both messages were too cryptic for her but she was certain Eric would understand when he was allowed to see them. She wondered by what process she was supposed to fly how she could teach herself then without a thought or action floated from the pines and began her journey south.

She wasn't fast at all and after an hour was overcome with fatigue and forced to land, but at least she had found the road. She was well aware how little traffic there was on Lapland's roads but started to walk whilst wishing she had brought the tent; it was snowing and already the light was beginning to fade. Before it was dark though a truck did stop:

"What are you doing up here boy?" the driver asked. The weight of the chain mail clearly squashed any semblance of female form from her. "and why the" he paused uncertain what to call the Viking outfit "costume?" She of course didn't have an immediate answer. In the hours she had been walking she hadn't considered she may need one and her response was unplanned.

"Cosplay. I kina got separated from my friends."

"Sorry miss, it's kind of difficult to tell with the costume and all. You looking for a lift?"

"As long as you're going south?"

"Last time I looked that was the direction I was heading." She opened the door and entered.

"You'll need to slam that door it sticks a bit." The driver stated and she did. Snow left the truck shook free by intensity of the closure and she sat holding the handle.

"Sorry" she said waving the handle awkwardly not knowing where to put it.

"Well" said the driver "you certainly know how to slam a door."

Once home she instantly forgot about Osla the driver who had bored her with hours of recollections of role play and historical enactment. He had been quick to point out the historical inaccuracies: chain links too small and too high a gauge, shield the wrong shape and made of metal, sword wrong in almost every way bar the pommel. She almost blurted out that she wasn't equipped by Vikings but by alien dwarves but thankfully hadn't. He had dropped her in the centre of Helsinki and continued to the docks. She hadn't thought of a disguise or means to keep her identity secret and they hadn't given her a helmet, she didn't need one she guessed since hardly anyone knew who she was but the looks she was getting as she trudged to her apartment said otherwise, soon she would be well known and have to move.

The lift door was open and the lift itself stank of urine. The buttons did nothing bar very slightly change the tone of the buzzing light. She walked the three flights to her door then realised she had left her key back with the non-essential stuff over five hundred miles away. As she sighed with resigned frustration the lock clicked and the door slowly swung open, "Thanks Loviatar" she acknowledged appreciatively. The lights didn't work she was out of electricity, had no money to top up the meter and emergency had been consumed long ago. She checked her fish tank, the water was as cold as her bedsit and the now colourless tropicals' filled with the gas of decay floated at the surface. How long had she been away? She could live like this, she had many times before but tonight she didn't want to; Eric had a spare room with a bed and the others had comfortable beds and warm rooms. She found a coat long enough to cover the costume locked her door and put the chain on before perching on the concrete window ledge. This time she consciously used her ability to close and lock the window before she flew over to Eric's it was the furthest but by far the most comfortable.

She landed in the secluded garden at the rear. The lights were on and the backdoor open. She remembered the instructions and knew exactly what she was supposed to do; she knew this wasn't it but she couldn't help herself she was far too excited. She could hear the television on in the lounge and shedding her coat burst in fully regaled. No one was there but an ice bucket with several upended bottles and a sprinkling of cocaine on the onyx table explained the recent past. She quietly went looking for Eric. She found a dress a nice one in a size ten, discarded half way up the stairs. At the master bedroom she listened at the door and decided now was not the time. She collected her stuff, moved it to her favourite spare room, floating over the boards she knew creaked, she put herself to bed.

The morning came, she showered in the ensuite before dressing in the spare casual clothes she kept in the bottom draw. If she wanted to wear the armour under it Superman style she'd have to buy stuff with a looser fit. She walked over the creaking boards with deliberate steps and down the stairs trying to be silent but not too silent. Still he didn't wake or if he did failed to investigate who was the intruder. She made breakfast but the smell of bacon did not rouse them, finally she made: two sandwiches, a cafetiere of strength five, dark roast Java, poured a jug of orange juice, placed cups and two cubes of ice in each glass on the tray and carried them up. She knocked loudly and walked in. They were spooning in a peaceful slumber. She picked up the woman's discarded clothing and put it in a neat pile on the dresser, hung her dress in the wardrobe, put Eric's in the laundry bin then went back to 'her' room. This wasn't going to plan, perhaps because she wasn't following the plan? She changed back into her hero garb and looked at herself in the mirrored wardrobe doors. She didn't look like a hero, she didn't have the bulk and trainers really didn't work with the rest. She decided to go shopping but realised she'd have to make a cape as she couldn't think of anywhere that sold them. She'd go on the way to the hospital to check on Donald.

She pulled the chest of draws forward a little so that her organ case would fit behind and finding the next draw to hers vacant for once put all the boys stuff in it only taking Donald's chain, ring and the vial with her. She checked the other three draws; Lucy had some nice new stuff. Then she stepped onto the balcony in a borrowed Parker that completely drowned her, virtually touching the ground, closed the door carefully now she had decided not to wake him. Loviatar locked it from inside before she took flight but only as far as the gateway, for fear of being seen.

It was dark again before she made it to the hospital. Mulberry had some nice leather riding boots that would go well, but 975€ they were well out of her budget of nothing at all. She went straight to the private room Eric had arranged for his friend. The woman in his bed, surrounded by her family, looked at her accusingly as she entered. Quickly she left to find a nurse. She was agency staff and had no concept of who Donald was or where he had gone. "I only work the weekends," She explained "try asking at reception". Her mobile completely dead and probably out of credit but as she looked at the blank screen it started charging. She examined it, there was no connection and it didn't have that new technology then smiled "Thanks Loviatar." She acknowledged patting her belly.

At reception she was refused information other than that Donald was no longer in the hospital but had enough charge to ring by the time she had left. Donald's phone was dead, Haako's unavailable, Eric's went straight to voice mail "It's Ella. Where's Donald? Ring me back."

An ambulance ablaze with light and sound screeched into the car park but was headed off by a black SUV with dark tinted glass that had driven confidently against the intended flow of traffic to do so. Two huge thugs in black coats brandishing carbines immediately sprung from the opening rear doors. Behind the ambulance an identical vehicle slid to a halt blocking its retreat but here only the passenger door opened. The tall blond sullen man, with an Uzi, wearing a trench coat and sunglasses despite the darkness of the skies above. They all approached the ambulance's rear doors as patients stood outside in the cold to sate their addiction tumbled over each other, trying to return to the safety of the hospital dropping the objects of their desire, their need, in panic. Ella watched knowing this was where she should be running from the shop and talking the customer with the unpaid for goods. She needed to step up. The first thug to the door tried it but the crew inside had locked it for their own protection. The man with the Uzi raised it to fire through the flimsy shell killing all within indiscriminately then fell to the floor as electricity arced around him. The other two thugs turned to face her as she shed the clumsy parker. Her shield that had somehow stuck itself to her back somersaulted over to her arm and her sword was already in her hand. Loviatar had provided an earie aura but even this failed to impress the thugs; she was still just an unimpressive sub fifty kilo little kid, they leveled their weapons and shot her. Her shield moved as she charged towards them as if possessed. The few un-deflected shots ricocheted off her armour although one grazed her skin. The lead thug dropped his gun and she hardly realised his arm was still attached. Thrusting her blade through the others thigh she felt her hair become a pom-pom of static as she discharged into his warm wet flesh. It smelt like: bacon, crispy, a little burnt, just the way she liked it. She pulled the sword from him. The driver of the car at the rear without a second thought for his three fallen accomplices accelerated through them pinning her to the ambulance. She reached down and gathering her strength flipped the vehicle onto its roof. Sirens. The police arrived and she was in the air, aura gone she hid on the hospital roof and considered what had just happened. That had to be this biggest adrenaline rush I've ever had, she thought rubbing the burnt blood on her sword against the chain on her thigh. There was an odd vibration against her breast. Earily the phone worked its way from her pointless bra and down under her chain to her belt. She was certain she had left it in the pocket of. She looked over the hospitals parapet, Eric's coat had already been collected by the police despite the mayhem. "Fuck!" she exclaimed before realising her rucksack was beside her. "I love you." She stated as she patted her belly once more.  
By the time she had recovered her phone it had stopped ringing but she immediately rang Eric back. "Where the hell have you been girl?" He asked excitedly.

"I told you I was going back to where Haako found the ring." She explained.

"and I told you to wait for better weather."

"You actually said until Donald was out of hospital but where is he?" She enquired.

"No seriously where have you been? After you'd been gone a week Haako and I went all the way up there to look for you but no sign at all. Have you any idea how long it took to do that drive and how unpleasant with his arse." She recalled that Haako suffered badly with flatulence and hoped his portion of the injection would improve things, make them better?

"Did you not see my bike, tent and stuff at the bottom of the sinkhole?" She questioned but guessing that the dwarves must have cleared them away.

"Obviously not. By the way did you make me breakfast?"

"I made you both breakfast." She corrected. Hannah he informed her was

"Jewish so avoid bacon next time." Next time Ella wondered, would there be a next time? Eric seemed to change sexual partners like… it was no use she couldn't think of anything that was an appropriate simile.

"Forgive me for not keeping up." She responded sarcastically. "So where's Donald?" There was a pause, clearly something was wrong.

"Hannah's going to be off to work soon, give it an hour and come over for lunch. I'll rustle you up a lettuce leaf or something. I really thought you'd gone back to Switzerland without telling us. I'll tell you all bout Donald and Haako and you can tell me what you did the last six weeks." Eric hung up. It was typical of Eric he disliked using phones; their technology was far too easy to hack.

Ella looked over the edge once more; it was still chaos down there. Thankfully the streetlamps here had been recently altered to energy efficient versions that avoided light pollution by only shining down. She flew off into the dull afternoon skies unseen.


	4. Chapter 4: Upstairs at Eric's

She waited on the roof until Hannah had left. It was a nice car and it became obvious she was not the usual waif or stray that Eric was so keen to collect. Descending to the doorway she rang the bell. Eric answered and was less shocked by her appearance than she had imagined.

"What the hell have you come as? I like it" he pointed out "but it needs a cape, boots and some serious padding Captain Finland." He moved aside and she entered as the door pulled itself from his grip and closed behind her. He raised an eyebrow, intrigued and she told him everything.

"Well" he responded once she had finished the tale as best she could. "You're going to struggle to do it in the order they wanted. Donald's been sectioned for his own safety and Haako's in prison awaiting trial. Where's the stuff?"

"He's" she stopped uncertain what question to ask first "What did he do?"

"Tried to kill himself again. Hanging this time."

"I meant Haako" she pointed out, even she could guess why Donald was sectioned.

"He was a bit pissed, walking home from a club when he heard some girl screaming for help. He ran to help, like you would, and found some guy buggering her up some alleyway. He lost it. Really tearing into him and doing some serious damage. Then it turns out they were a couple doing roleplay of some rape fantasy the stupid bitch had. Bitch pressed charges." Eric explained.

"She pressed charges? Did he hurt her too?"

"He may have given her a bit of a slap but mainly it was because her boyfriend couldn't. I guess he will if he recovers from the coma and isn't too brain damaged." The phone rang and Eric went to answer it. At least the interruption gave her a moment to think. He dashed back phone in hand snatched up the remote and turned on his home cinema. Within just a few clicks of the remote she saw herself at the hospital. The news report ran as they sat in silence, it was followed by a world record of a skateboarding dog. They sat in silence. The weather report started and Eric turned it off. "Fuck" he said quietly. "You really need some boots, the trainers really don't work."

"I've seen some nice one's in Mulberry." She replied. He raised an eyebrow.

After pizza where she ate more than he and again felt no need to purge herself he asked to see the 'stuff' & she took him to his spare room. She showed him his first, he inspected everything but seemed to show little interest asking her nothing. She suspected it was because he already knew she had nothing else to tell.

"It's a weird choice wouldn't you agree?" he asked.

"Uh?" She replied not understanding the question after so much silence, clearly he had been talking in his own head and not letting her in on his conversation.

"Us" he illuminated "I mean: the mad, bad, sad and" he paused "trying to find the adjective that would best suit himself and also rhymed "passionate." She stifled a laugh ineffectively.

"Hardly passionate Eric, you're just going through the motions and I'm not certain I like being the sad one. Most of the time I'm quite content." She thought of the hovel she lived in with its dead fish and public toilet for a lift. Her poverty and almost certain unemployment since she'd planned on only being away a week and didn't have more holiday than that. Then there was friends and family? She had Eric still; but she did have a growing sense of contentment that was due to her own personal power.

'How does this work then?' Eric's lips hadn't moved but she heard him clearly. He had put his ring on.

'Just like this I guess?' She thought back.

'This is really cool, what's its range?'

'How would I know? I've not had anyone to try it with 'til now.' She responded.

'I thought the dwarves may have said or the others spoken to you.'

'Others?' She asked.

'The case has space for two more; I'm guessing they're already in use.'

'I didn't even think' she began

'Yes I know that's a failing all three of you have, either unfeeling, unthinking or'

"Enough already! Fair enough I'm none too bright, but at least I don't go on about it." She stated aloud clearly annoyed by his words. He looked at her and considered her words carefully before thinking;

'No my dear; why would you?' He wondered if his sarcastic tone would translate in thought, certainly her hurt and annoyance had.

"Thanks" She replied. Clearly she had taken his projected thought as an apology; if the tone was present it had not been understood. He'd have to explore the rings capabilities with someone brighter and more empathic.

"Why do you suppose Donald losses out?" He asked not expecting a considered response, more bouncing thoughts off an empty vessel he mused.

"Can I order some food in?" She enquired "I'm probably unemployed again so I can't say when I could pay you back." It was clear she was an 'empty vessel' in more than one way, or had he just imparted that to her with an idle thought. He tried to think her randy; she didn't appear to respond. Then tried to think her tired; but she remained awake not yawning once. "Well?" she insisted.

"Yes. Use the Chinese." He said taking the menu from the draw and passing it to her with his card. "After we've eaten do you mind if I take a look at you? I have some of your previous data and would like to see just how much better the injection made you."

"Data?" she thought back to when he had roleplayed being the coach of a little girl gymnast and made her do work outs in his gym, recording stuff as he watched her stretch awkwardly in a leotard better suited to a pre-teen. "You do know you're not a real doctor Eric?" She joked before ordering what seemed an endless stream of numbers. She completed the order and read the numbers off the card.

"Were you ordering for the week or a party?" He asked, normally she only had a pancake roll followed by a trip to the toilet; she always had been a cheap date.

"I'm just really hungry and they all sound so interesting." For longer than she could recall she had eaten so little it would have taken her at least a month to consume the order she had just made. "They're going to be an hour, if you want to do some testing? Can I just wear the schoolgirl PE kit, the leotard is really uncomfortable?" He looked at her and pictured her dressed and made up in a variety of ways, all memories, before deciding.

"How about just the fishnet bra and pants set." She nodded and put a couple of bowls in the plate warmer before making her way up both flights to the seldom used rooms, upstairs at Eric's.

The treadmill whirred punctuated by her footfall. "Well?" she enquired in no way breathless despite her exertion. "How Daft Punk does it make me?" Eric smiled at her question and tried to remember the precise order of the adverbs, but couldn't he was older than Ella, quite a bit older and not really a fan. Still he tried to reply in a tuneful synthetic way.

"Stronger, faster, work for longer." He lost the voice, he didn't feel it suited him "Seriously before you struggled to bench 75 kilo and now you're reping 150." He checked the treadmills display once again, "and you seem to be able to maintain a constant 14.6 kph." He paused uncertain how to ask his next question he gave a different one. "Can you run flat out for me as fast as you can for as long as possible?" She responded instantly with a full out sprint that lasted at most ten seconds before she hopped off gasping for breath and clutching her thigh, still she was able to ask how she had done. "About 26 kph so that's", he did a quick calculation in his head, "still over 13 seconds for 100 meters." He wasn't impressed, it wasn't the sub ten second time he'd expected but didn't check the maths he never did, he was the brightest of the bunch, they trusted him to get it right but by their own admission they weren't bright; besides anyway running had never been her thing. If this is what the injection did to her as unfit and un-athletic as she had been he was hard pressed to imagine how fast, strong and enduring he would become. He took time over measuring her, she was little changed in appearance but now she had a mass of 80 kg rather than her normal 40. This had shifted her BMI from the sub 16 danger zone she proudly displayed like a medal to an obese 32. He studied her skeletal 159 cms and found himself perplexed. He stood on the scales and checked his own mass yet again; exactly where it should be.

"Spot for me." He told her and obediently she did. He didn't change the bar, he'd start at 150. He looked up between her stick like thighs as the doorbell rang "Did you realise you've come on?" He asked sitting up. She covered her sex with her hand embarrassed. It had been a long time since the last, she had considered it a benefit of her condition, one she was unhappy to have lost. "Amena should have some, I guess you don't carry them? I'll get the Chinese, see you in the kitchen." He left quickly and she used a hand towel hanging in the space between shower and sauna.

'White! Why the hell did all the towels at Eric's have to be white? What was it with him and white towels?'

'I like the fact you can see they're clean.' He answered in her head 'The range is clearly not out of sight out of mind.'

After visiting his housekeeper and changing Ella joined Eric and ate relentlessly, her physique actually changing because of it. "I think we should visit Donald tomorrow and dose him." Eric stated "There is no evidence to suggest it would make him more stable but we really don't know what it is or does." He paused for thought as, with speed he knew she did not possess, she stole the last prawn cracker from his hand. "I need more data and Donald will be a good control after all: you have an alien organ, Haako gets a potion and I a pill. He gets nothing else and I don't get why, I kind of guess that the things intended for us would further unhinge his troubled mind. What do you think?"

"I should have ordered another sweet and sour sauce." Eric raised an eyebrow before continuing with his analysis and summary.

"We should visit him, maybe they'd let us take him into our care?" She looked at him questioningly as she dipped the huge tempura prawn in the polystyrene container.

"You do realise just having the costumes doesn't actually make you a doctor or me a nurse?"

"I am a doctor." He said reassuringly.

"I know but not of medicine or psychiatry." she pointed out "We're not qualified to care."

"Neither are most of the carers at that place, most can't even speak our language." He stated harshly.

"Careful Eric your right wing inclinations are showing again." Ella rebuked. "Besides you don't complain about Amera." Eric didn't argue, it was old ground there was little point in going over again. He was steadfast in his beliefs and she lacked the intellect to understand them but if he did become a superhero and had to make the call over who to save: disabled, immigrant or blond haired blue eyed Nordic pure bloods he was certain what his choice would be; she he knew would probably waste important seconds deliberating and even then her bleeding heart nature would get it wrong. He smiled she was, he considered, a naughty girl with her liberal attitudes in need of a good spanking.

"When you've finished I'll be upstairs arranging the school room. Your homework is overdue again and you need to be punished." He explained. She almost choked on a mouthful of rice.

"You just watched me on the news taking out four armed thugs and you want to spank me?" she stated incredulous at the suggestion.

"I need to compare how you mark up. See if you're any more resilient." He explained acting the scientist.

"I was shot several times and pinned against an ambulance by an SUV." She pointed out.

"I may need to use the riding crop then." He joked with a wry smile "Do you want those Mulberry boots or not?" For a second she wasn't certain it was a fair deal, but they were nice boots.

After her time in uniform, with her thin white panties twitching around her ankles, they spent a little time talking about tomorrow and ended up agreeing to free Donald from Aurora hospital. Tomorrow she would get Eric to buy her the boots and move some of her stuff in for a short stay. Long enough to get them all 'suited' but not so long that she became a fixture. Eric was paying the hospital bills so they couldn't perceive there would be any problems but Haako would be a very different matter.


	5. Chapter 5: Care in the community

When she woke from what had been a completely restful, dreamless sleep she was horrified to find a mess of undigested Chinese food in the bed. She showered and dressed before folding the sheet to make a parcel she could put straight in the bin outside. Amera was clearing away the breakfast things. "I'm really sorry Amera but I had a bit of an accident last night and the bed is a bit messy." She hated using Amera like this after all it was her mess but she had no idea where cleaning stuff was kept.

"It is no problem." Amera stated with happy inconsequence "You should have said honey I have many tampons." Again Ella had forgotten all about that issue and filed it as a distant memory. Thankfully she felt in no way gungy or in pain like before.

"Actually I do need one please."

"Mr Eric is very good he has me keep a full range because he has so many women friends, I will show you." Amera beckoned her upstairs to the large communal bathroom and opened the cupboard. It was indeed well stocked.

"Thank you. Where is Eric?"

"He go out early, lots of stuff to do he say. Meet you hospital at twelve." Amera left hurriedly. Ella looked at her ring.

'Where are you Eric? What are you doing?' she thought.

'How's your arse?' he instantly responded. She observed it in the mirror, it was not scared, bruised or misshapen in any way, it looked perfectly pale; not how it had been last night.

'Mines fine how's yours?'

'A little sore I must confess, but I'm kind of busy with my lawyer at the moment. I'll get back to you in a bit.'

'I'll see you at Donald's bedside at twelve?' Ella responded.

'Amera passed on the message then? I never know if she understands a word I say.'

'One quick question Eric.' She began insistently.

'Sorry I'll catch you later I really have to concentrate on something.' He signed off and she tried to hide the fact she felt hurt just in case he could feel it. She comforted herself that she had been no more used than so many women by Eric and others like him. At least she hoped he hadn't forgotten about the boots. Upstairs she 'suited up' and found a suitable wig golden to match the colour the roots of her hair were turning. In the mirror her eyes shone like sapphires', she was going to need a new passport photo she had changed so much in such a little time. Thankfully the wardrobes had several long coats and it was very convenient how Loviatar was able to almost weld her shield to the chain on her back, the magnetism seemed stronger than yesterday.

She travelled to her flat ready to tackle any crime, but nothing happened and she arrived disappointed to find it sealed with a note on the door indicating it was being fumigated ready for new tenants. The steel sheet covering her door was easily prised off with her sword but within everything was gone and not even a note left to say where her stuff had been taken. Thank heavens I took all the important stuff to Eric's last night then thought what the people clearing her home would of made of a case full of human guts? She had little of any value and nothing of any real worth other than what the dwarves had given her. Stoically she considered how it made packing stuff up to take for a short stay at Eric's so much easier now there was absolutely nothing to take.

She had time on the way to the hospital to visit the cash machine but was told there was no cash available. She tried to ring her manager at Aldi but her phone was out of credit despite being fully charged. She window shopped on the way to the hospital arriving a good half hour early despite having to walk. She had prayed for something to happen but there were no: drive by shootings, car chases, hostage situations not even a bag snatch. At the hospital reception pointed her to the private room Eric had hired off of the main psychiatric ward. She waited at the ward doors then rang the admissions bell again. Two minutes later she was joined by another visitor.

"Have you rung?" The unkempt bearded man in the dressing gown asked.

"Yes, about four times over the last ten minutes."

"You do know it's not visiting time don't you?" He said banging loudly on the locked doors. He turned to the camera and stuck out his tongue whilst gesticulating a V sign. Time passed, nothing happened no one came. Ella had been watching the clock and no one had come or gone for well over fifteen minutes, as she went to ring yet again the doors electric locks opened for her and it swung open. "WOoooh" the patient sounded as if producing ghost effects for a horror B-movie.

Just inside the door an unconscious nurse lay on the floor, nothing moved but now she could hear muffled cries from down the corridor. She followed them to the room with Donald's name written on the door's white board. The door flew open; within three nurses including the unconscious one's twin appeared to be operating on a restrained Donald, without the aid of anaesthetic.

They were shocked, so shocked two didn't react at all until their colleagues head hit the floor, his body unattached. Green blood sprayed up the wall as his body shrank slightly, like a balloon deflating. Shocked alien eyes stared at her and she stared back as their faces lost cohesion sagged and wrinkled, shifting, changing; their pupil less black eyes like shiny polished nuggets of obsidian reflected her lack of comprehension as she stood bloody sword in one hand and shield in the other. There was only one way out of the room, they would have to go past her and she was ready.

One of the creatures drew a weapon from somewhere inside itself. It became clear their clothes were as fake as their human visage. He held it to Donald's head threateningly. She backed away lowering her blade and they began wheeling his bed towards her. She gave them room it was clear they were not trying to kill him they were operating to change him like she had been changed and she could see strange glowing thing in his open cavity, but unlike hers this organ was small. They hadn't emptied him like she had been, just added stuff. They backed towards the ward door pulling Donald up the corridor behind them, she followed at distance. At the door they pressed the release button and bolted though it, when Ella tried to follow she found the corridor beyond had somehow been filled with thick rubber like webbing. Although it cut easily it was enough to slow her down, they were out of sight and with their ability to change their appearance would never be found. She returned to Donald's bed, he had lost consciousness now there was nothing she could do to help and no one around to ask. She wheeled him back to his side room with the decapitated alien, passed the unconscious nurse.

Peering into the entrance made by the forceps she could see something glowing but could not make out clearly what it was; machine, organic or something else. \she covered his wound with a sheet not wanting to leave him exposed to the air and possible contamination, this was a side room off of a psychiatric ward she realised it was hardly likely to have the same standards of cleanliness as an operating theatre. Wiping her sword clean of alien blood and inspected the body whilst she waited for Eric to arrive certain he would know what to do. It was a little smaller now, even with its severed head taken into account but apart from the green blood and: empty, loose, wrinkled, green skin it could be mistaken for a human. She laughed at her own naivety, there was no way it could be it was just that her recent experiences had coloured her understanding of reality; now it appeared anything could be possible. She waited. She drew her sword and cleaned it again, practised manipulating metal things including herself within the chain suit, floating carefully about the room. She checked her phone still fully charged and still no credit before playing Candy Crush to fill the time.

Eric walked in with a doctor and a nurse. They stood in the doorway paralysed by the unexpected sight of the chain clad maiden and her alien victim in its large puddle of green blood that had become thick tacky goo. "Sorry; I didn't know what to do and my phones out of credit." She explained to Eric.

'You have the ring!' He thought at her.

"Oh yes. Shit I didn't think of that" All these new things were going to take some getting used to. Suddenly the nurse rushed forward as if to aid the fallen shriveled green thing then realising it had no head stumbled and turned to the doctor for guidance.

"My friend here is a massive prankster" Eric joked "That's the best one yet" he said to a dumbfounded Ella 'Play along girl.' He told her. "She's always trying to shock and this is the best alien thing she's ever done. Where did you get the manikin?" He asked her 'Tell them it's a shop dummy covered in latex.' She did, but they didn't seem convinced. "Don't worry" he told them "I know it's a mess but she'll clean it up, where do you keep the mop?" still looking unconvinced by his words the invasion of her personal space forced the nurse to move and the suggestion sent her to the cleaner's cupboard. "Sorry about this doctor." He said steering him out the door. "Let's complete that paperwork then we can take our friend home and get out of your way. Maybe I could donate to the scanner appeal as means of compensation?" She imagined this may have cost her the boots, why hadn't she cleaned up when she had all that spare time.

'Eric. We can't take him the aliens were doing surgery on him and I disturbed them. He's got a huge gaping hole in his chest.' She pointed out.

'Chest or abdomen?' He enquired.

'Under his ribs about a foot long.'

'The Skrull obviously don't do key hole surgery. I'll sort the wound but you need to shift the body.'

'Donald or the thingy?'

'The Skrull of course.' He thought exasperated by her. 'Wrap it in some sheets and fly it to my country estate.

'Country estate?' she queried not having a clue what he was on about.

'The farm.' She remembered he had brought a small holding in an auction some years back but didn't know he'd done anything with it, she wondered what his 'country estate' was like now. Unfortunately the widows were designed to stop jumpers so she had to carry the sheet wrapped body to the roof, bypass the crude padlocks and head off from there hoping not too many people noticed. Ten minutes later she was daydreaming as she flew clear of the city when she was disturbed by Eric again.

'The head! Why didn't you take the fucking head?'

'You told me to take the body.' She explained.

'Great. Fucking great. If you had a brain you'd be fucking dangerous.'

'I am dangerous' she explained not perceiving the ironic humour of her statement.

Eric hadn't done anything with the small holding it had no power, water or anything. Thankfully she had brought her own light and could open the locks without need of a key. The small cottage and its outbuildings were deserted and the land around an overgrown wasteland.

'Eric' she thought 'where should I put him?' Eric didn't reply at first still annoyed with her ineptitude from earlier; but after she had repeated herself four times without even rephrasing the question he gave in.

'Leave him in the kitchen and come back to mine, try and not be seen.'

'How's Donald?' She asked.

'Not great' Eric replied 'How long did it take for the virus to work on you?'

'Virus?'

'The injection. How long before you felt anything?' He asked.

'I don't know; my sense of time was a little screwy to say the least.'

'Hopefully he'll survive.' Eric thoughts were cold and clinical like the scientist he had been before the scandal and his inheritance. Eric told her to fly back but it was cold, dark and had started to rain. She had GPS on her phone that no longer seemed to move from fully charged but decided to wait until morning, she didn't want her chainmail going rusty. There was nothing to eat and she was hungry, she always felt hungry these days which she thought odd since she had virtually no guts to fill.

When she woke the hunger had gone. She searched the cottage for a better place to hide the alien body than the kitchen table and discovered a lockable ottoman, just the right size and as empty as all the furniture in this abandoned investment. Overnight the corpse seemed to have lost an arm. She assumed the dead creature had somehow absorbed it into itself. She found the water main and turned it on so she could wash and use the toilet before leaving and rejoiced in the fact her period had lasted less than a day. The toilet however revealed exactly why she no longer felt hungry as the rest of yesterday undigested Chinese and green alien flesh was egested. She hid the rest of the body and left troubled by her somnambulist midnight snack.

Back at Eric's it appeared that Donald was close to death, Eric asked Ella for the glowing vial and injected him, nothing appeared to happen, at least not instantly. Eric had given Amera the day off so no one else was there. "We should phone for an ambulance." Ella insisted but Eric was having none of it.

"How do we explain the surgery, the implants, and the alien virus?"

"We need to do something?" Ella insisted "We can't just watch him die."

"You don't have to watch." Eric replied, but she did. The pair of them watched his life ebb away. "I guess it's what he wanted" Eric reassured her.

"What if it wasn't a serious suicide attempt but just a cry for help." Ella insisted.

"We'll never know." Eric reasoned, then feeling for a pulse announced "He's gone." but Ella was certain that wasn't the end, that they would understand his suicidal intent. She was absolutely convinced that there was something _she_ could do. Laying her hands on Donald's chest she did it. Lightning, brilliant blue white flickering arcs flashed from ceiling to floor. There was heat between her flesh and his that left singed hand prints in his chest and burnt her palms. Then as the smoke cleared his burns healed. The neat sutures Eric had performed burnt away the wound from his surgery sealed. He sat up and looked at her as if nothing had happened and he was waking from a daydream, not even properly asleep. He saw her strange dress, her burnt palms the pale aura that radiated from her. He looked at his own hospital gown and asked  
"Fancy dress? What have you come as?"


	6. Chapter 6: A busy night

It was well through the night before everything since his suicide attempt had been explained, or at least retold. There were of course times when he could not believe them but after Ella's demonstration of her new abilities and his own experience with the ring he was convinced about most of it. "I still don't get why they chose us though, we hardly fit the heroic mold; especially me".

"Personally I'd like to know why and who? It seems there are a number of alien races working independently or together but to what end and who is directing them?" Eric questioned.

"Does it matter? I mean we're heroes?" Ella pointed out excited and glowing slightly.

"Are we though I mean what can we actually do?" Donald asked.

"Do you really want me to list it again?" Ella was almost bored by the task.

"No I meant what can _we_ do in the scheme of things, I mean even if we" he looked at Eric and then himself "are as powerful as you we're hardly the Earth's mightiest? Your ability to open mechanical locks is more a two bit villain ability than heroic."

"Maybe our mysterious benefactor will demand some form of _payment_?" Eric suggested. There was a pause whilst they considered this, Ella broke the silence as she never thought of anything for very long.

"What can you do Donald?" She asked to which all Donald could do was shrug his shoulders.

"Given he's just back from the dead, before that psychosis induced catatonia, before that such a deep depression he tried to kill himself rather than deal with the problem, whatever it was I hardly suspect he's in a position to answer that. Anyhow how long did it take for the injection to do whatever it does Ella?" Eric continued with all the compassion of a bull dozer. It was her turn to shrug. "It's clear that we are all supposed to be different but we all are supposed to have the same injection. I was hoping that you'd be able to reveal what it did by itself without alien organs, drugs and devices but guess I'll just have to be the guinea pig for that." Eric drew a shot from the vial and injected himself. "I'll just leave the pill 'til later and keep testing my speed, strength, endurance and resilience until I reach a maximum".

"Aren't endurance and resilience the same thing?" Donald asked.

"No; endurance is the ability to continue a repetitive stressful activity for an extended time whilst resilience is the ability to resist physical damage." Eric explained.

"How do you test resilience?" Donald asked.

"He uses a whip." Ella explained remembering last night. "Shame Haako has to miss out."

"I can't see him being available any time soon. He'll be remanded until the trial and that's set for two months' time. At least they'll take the time of his sentence." Eric confirmed.

A shock-wave shook the house followed seconds later by the sound of an explosion. "What the hell was that?" Donald asked.  
"I'll fly up and take a look, its proper dark now no one will notice." Ella explained as she headed for the door. They didn't try and stop her, they looked at each other and thought better of it.

'Take care.' Donald thought at her. She thought about thinking back that she always did but Eric reminded her they all knew that wasn't true and she thought better of it.

Outside it was cold with a strong wind that bit into even her. In the distance she could see a ship burning in the marina and as she started towards it she saw another bright flame approach it erupting with a sudden flare adding to the conflagration. Moments later she heard the explosion.

'I think someone is firing rockets at a ship or ships in the marina.' She thought to the others as she flew towards the flames in the distance.

'Er Ella, Eric's collapsed in a shivering, sweaty heap. Any ideas?' Douglas informed her. She didn't, she had never been on even a basic first aid course but it was probably the self-inflicted use of the injection. She couldn't remember how it had affected her, she'd been unconscious; Douglas had died but then the pair of them had major surgery and stuff put inside. She had no way of telling if they had these symptoms, would have or if they were something new.

'I'd say ring an ambulance but… oh hell ring an ambulance.' Then as she continued to approach the burning vessel she thought 'Eric can _you_ hear me?' there was no reply not even a dialing tone or static. She wondered if she should fly back and help her friend or fly on and help the stricken ship. She could do nothing the hospital couldn't; they would know what to do whilst the ship was far more exciting.

As she approached it became clear it was a vast Maersk line container vessel and she quickly realised there would be little she could do even with her newly endowed powers. Although it had been hit by two missiles and there was obvious damage it was containers on the deck that had been targeted and destroyed rather than the ship itself. Suddenly an undamaged container several away from those already destroyed exploded, fiercely, shifting those around it violently although they were so tightly packed and so heavy few went far. Her shield arm flexed in front of her and shrapnel clattered off it. A press helicopter flew past her and she considered why of all the flying heroes she had to be the slowest, certainly not faster than a speeding bullet. She gave them a wave, totally unmindful of anonymity, before descending to the burning deck.

She quickly found a crewman: burnt, blasted and clearly dead. Despite the roar of the flame she was certain she could hear screaming and arrhythmic, panicked drumming. She approached the sound and slicing through the containers locks with her sword wrenched it open with a strength she was certain that even enhanced she did not possess. Trafficked women tumbled from the open doors stumbling to the deck, searing their bare feet on the burning deck that she had not realised had become a fearful griddle, she also hadn't notice how he chain mail had seemingly flowed over her unprotected feet now her trainers had melted and torn. She picked two up and replaced them in the relative safety of their container.

She held her hands up and open trying to compel them to stay whilst she flew up seeking the closest shore to carry them to. Despite this several of the barely clothed women leapt and ran on the burning deck before diving overboard. Quickly she descended to the water and glowed brightly seeking them out.

"Stand to, strange glowing entity." She was suddenly aware that there was another much smaller vessel with an armed crew; an armed crew that were aiming at her. Suddenly she realised she needed a name and started to ponder a few.

"Storm maiden!" She shouted in her stupid squeaky voice. The damned injection hadn't improved that. "Have you recovered the women?" despite her perfect Finish they did not lower their aim. One of the women broke the surface, thrashed, choked then disappeared again. She instantly followed and one of the coast guard shot her. She hit the water harder than she had intended momentarily phased by the pain in her thigh, the shock of being shot, she was one of the good guys but how were they to know? Glowing brightly she quickly she found the first drowning woman and without care for her own safety flew from the water and deposited her on the coastguard's vessel. "Have you seen the other one?" She shouted across to the commander who was berating the man who had shot her. As she did she heard several loud splashes behind her as yet more women ran from the flames. "Throw them rings, I'll get the others." She ordered as she took to the air and began to ferry two at a time to the ship. More emergency vessels, news and police helicopters turned up but thankfully no more missiles. There was nothing she could do about the flames when the container was emptied of people so she gathered the belongings the most panicked had fled without and dropped them to coastguard's boat before extinguishing her personal aura and disappearing into the night. Not for a moment did she consider there could be more in other containers. 'Job done.' She congratulated herself.

'How's Eric doing?' she thought to Donald.

'He's still alive but comatose although when I last saw him he had started to thrash about uncontrollably. They've had to tie him to the bed.' He replied.

'He needs the tablet.' It was a new voice that shocked them both. 'Quickly!'

'Who the fuck are you?' they both asked but there was no answer, it was a single command that told them what to do, but gave nothing else away. 'How quickly can you get it?' they both asked each other almost at once.

'I came in the ambulance and I've got no money for a taxi' Donald explained 'It won't take long to steal a car though, about half an hour if I'm lucky.'

'I don't think I can do it that quickly, you go.' She told him but sensed he already had.

In the dark sky something came, something fast yet silent, something she couldn't see but had obviously seen her. It passed close but not threateningly so, instinctively she glowed brightly to ward off a collision but too late to be effective; it was already gone on route to the harbour an armoured person but not Iron man, something quite different she felt. There were no boot jets it clearly had a different means of propulsion? She continued to fly back to Eric's.

She heard a scream somewhere below and reveled in the fact that being so slow she could at least take the time to enjoy the experience and respond to things that the armoured individual would never have noticed at the speed _he_ was going. She rebuked herself for assuming a gender. It was true that there were more men than women in the Avengers, but that didn't mean it was true of the Earth's entire meta-human community.

As she hovered and tried to locate the screamer she found herself almost day dreaming a memory she had when Eric had tried to explain relativity to her, despite her lack of interest. 'Imagine you're flying a plane' he had told her. 'Before you take off you fire your gun and the bullet speeds of at' she couldn't remember the speed but it was fast. 'Now you take off and are flying at Mach 2 when you fire again. How fast does that bullet go?' She had asked him to convert Mach 2 into kilometers per hour then typed both values into the calculator on her phone, even using that she'd got it wrong but it hadn't mattered the numbers weren't important but the fact that it was faster did. 'Now' he explained 'imagine you have a torch and turn it on. The light travels away from it at' again it was a very large number, much faster than the speeding bullet when fired from the speeding plane. 'Now you get on the plane and shine the torch forward out of the cockpit, how fast is the light travelling?' She'd done the sum again but this time it was very wrong because apparently nothing travels faster than light and light has a constant speed in a particular medium. It explained nothing to her at the time she had considered it was just Eric showing off and putting his ignorant friend in her place. She hoped he didn't die; he hadn't brought her the boots yet.

The woman's scream was closer this time. She was in an alley with three men two pinning her arms whist the other worked his body violently between her legs. Landing she remembered what had happened to Haako and unnoticed placed her phone on a bin to record the incident then she asked her. "You are actually being raped and need assistance?" The victim screamed, thanked god and then seemed almost angry that she had been asked with this man so obviously invading her. One of the men holding an arm released her and stood. Little more than a boy but still larger than Ella, he drew a knife. As he approached Ella the woman scratched her attackers face before he could grab her arm and pin it himself. The boy worked the knife well; obviously well practised, he'd had many fights which the scars on his body attested to but he'd always won after all he was still alive. Not this time. Ella wasn't skilled with a blade, in truth she had no idea how to fight and had never really had to still the boy's knife and hand sailed over a fence before he was impaled through the chest with lightning flashing around his body. He fell his corpse blackened and smoking, his hoodie aflame.

The boy holding her other arm fled instantly whilst the rapist turned and dismounted quickly. Trying to run he was tripped by his unfastened falling jeans. He fell awkwardly banging his head but remained conscious. Ella rolled him over with a forceful kick to the ribs, she heard ribs break within his like damp twigs in autumn crushed underfoot. She reached down and grabbed his still partially erect penis stretching it before amputation. She returned to the bin, stopped the recording and disposed of his member, dropping it in between the nappies and other house hold waste. The woman was already on her feet the boys were: fleeing, screaming incapacitated or dead. She remembered Robocop, the original not the remake, "Sorry" she said to trying to stay calm but almost giggling with euphoria "I don't know the number of a rape crisis centre but I'm sure you can Google it. I have to go; I have a friend in hospital." Then she flew off into the night.

The woman took her personal manicure kit from her handbag and tortured her assailant awhile before taking the gun from his belt, holding it between the sockets where until so recently his eyes had been; she pulled the trigger.

Close to Eric's a flimsy sports car travelling at ridiculous speed in a built up area flew through the lights into a gritting lorry. The driver with no restraint was part catapulted through the windscreen before the spinning vehicle bisected him. There had been no time for the driver to think the only reason Ella knew he had recognised his fault was the

'Fu…!' she heard in her mind.

'..ck' she concluded shocked it had been Donald. She flew to the scene and landed checking the occupants of the lorry. They were fine and there was no point to checking Donald's severed sections. Shit she thought the pill. She ran to the car which unlike those portrayed in films was neither on fire nor exploded. Finding his jean covered legs she searched the pockets and found it, she took her phone out of its belt casing dropped the tablet in then replaced it buckling it tightly. 'I need a utility belt.' She thought but not to anyone after all Eric was unconscious in hospital and Donald was clearly dead.

"Ella!" He shouted, curtains were twitching and already, less than a minute after the accident, a small crowd had formed; realising he stopped shouting 'Ella could you bring me my legs?' She looked across at Donald's torso that had rolled into a lamp post breaking his neck before thudding into a wall with such ferocity the ribs had shattered and the wall had been partly demolished. It crumbled and fell on his top half. 'Umpf! Seems I make quite a good wrecking ball.' She pulled his legs from the vehicle and carried them across the street. Clearing the concrete off of him proved much harder than tearing off the container door earlier she imagined she was getting tiered or lacking in adrenaline. "Just try and line them up with the rest of me." She did as she was told and watched as strands of cartilage, muscle and skin began reaching out from the top half, seeking out attachments. Suddenly shortening, pulling him back together. The blood spilt all around him seemed to flow back into his wounds and then they sealed. He stood up, not even shakily.

"Can I do that?" She asked him.

"No just me, when I died just then a little voice in my head told me some of what I am capable of. Seems the Skrull were supposed to tell me but you disrupted their operation?" He looked at the crowd and heard the sirens getting closer. "Couldn't give me a lift to the hospital could you?" She picked him up and whispered to herself.

"Up. Up & away."


	7. Chapter 7: Visiting time

"So what can you do?" She asked as she strained to carry him whilst flying. "What did it tell you?"

"Seems they were supposed to implant three devices in me but only had chance to do two. The injection makes us all just better than what we are by rewriting our DNA and making us alien quite how it does it and exactly what it does I don't know for certain but our alien forms heal faster than humans but not much so don't rely on it." He began. "I on the other hand can heal a little bit like you but the philosopher's stone inside me is a technology so far beyond ours its magic. It heals me much quicker and if I die it resurrects me and keeps me alive until eventually it regrows anything lost."

"But you have to die?" Ella asked him as she landed on the hospital roof and put him down clumsily.

"Yeah I have to die to be resurrected the clues in the name really."

"God your heavy." She stated bending over trying to catch her breath.

"Yeah the injection does that, it increases our density which makes us heavy, strong and tough enough to be invulnerable to knives and small arms. The armour the dwarves gave you is even more resilient than we are, by the way where's my set?"

"Back at Eric's in my bottom draw."

"I need to pick that up or using the doppelganger device or I'm going to spend a lot of time naked. Apparently the armour shifts with my body the way normal clothes don't." she looked at him incredulously.

"Really you can shift like those Skrull things?" He held out his hand and she instinctively gave him hers, then she looked into her own eyes before he shifted back to his own form.

"Is it like a hologram or something?" She asked.

"No I actually change, every cell right down to your blue eyes, golden hair and pained right buttock?"

"Some idiot shot me, it really stung and it still feels bruised." She explained then she thought "I have brown eyes and hair." She pointed out.

"Not anymore." He stated "I thought you were wearing contacts and had dyed it." She tried to make out her image in the wired glass of the roof door. Eventually she gave up and took a selfie, looking at the image she exclaimed

"Did you do that?"

"No seriously you've been like that for some time, maybe the injection does that too. Keep an eye on my mine will you, it's difficult to watch your own eye colour. Oh and the buttock; like I said your healings limited you must be out of whatever it takes. Oh and I had your fingerprints, tats and piercings even though they're not genetic. I don't know how it does that, magic I guess but I'm no Skrull they only have to look at an image to copy it, I have to touch someone to do a good job for now but I'm guessing I'll get better at it with practise." He explained. She was fumbling with her phone case and eventually found the tablet.

"I really need a utility belt" She noted.

"And better footwear." Donald pointed out.

"So how we gonna get this into Eric?" She asked hoping for a detailed plan with fail-safes and back-ups just like Eric would dictate.

"How's about I disable the door alarm, pick the lock and we walk down the stairs and give it to him?" Donald suggested. She stood in her chain suit with her sword and shield, turning her open hands towards him. "Ok, give it to me and I'll do it. You just stay here and give me a lift home and a distraction if it all goes tits' up." He tried the roof door it was open and there was no security to overcome. "Well that was easy." He descended down the unlit stairs.

Finding Eric wasn't difficult but getting to him would be. He hung around quietly always out of sight, a talent he had perfected from an earlier career. He listened to the doctors and found his friend had come up negative on almost every diagnostic test and those he didn't the levels of substance abuse were too low to be a trigger. He hadn't been to any of the precluded list of medically unsafe countries in the last six months at least, they didn't know what was ailing him but they weren't taking chances and had isolated him. This wouldn't have been tricky anyhow as his insurance was easily good for the best treatment.

'How's it going?' she asked 'I'm falling asleep up here.'

'Not great he's locked away in isolation inside a plastic bubble thing with a nurse in constant supervision. I can hardly pick the lock with all the corridor traffic. I thought about posing as an agency nurse, but they are hardly likely to use one for him and they'd rumble me at changeover; any ideas?'

'You know me.' She replied and indeed he did, ideas were never her strong point, then remarkably she had one. 'How about I float outside his window and glow a bit to distract the nurse, then you could feed him the tablet?'

'Good idea apart from the locked door and the plastic bubble. I'm not certain I can even get anything in his mouth. It looks like the only way to dose him would be I.V. via the cannula they've fitted and the drip outside.'

'How about a specialist from another hospital, you could look like someone else and gain access that way?' She suggested.

'It's feasible but doesn't get around the dosing problem, I don't even know if this thing's soluble and where would I get a pass?' Ella didn't have an answer and further attempts to communicate with Donald were ignored which worried her, it wasn't like Donald to go 'off line' or 'hang up'. After ten minutes of silence she became so worried she started down the stairs wishing she'd brought a coat. She stopped when she heard the fire door below open then quickly shut, someone was coming a nurse with a laundry bag, upright regal entirely not the bearing one would expect.

"I give you all this and you can't even dose your friends correctly or break them out of a low security holding facility. You're supposed to amuse me; start doing your job." As she walked towards her his body shifted back to Donald's and he staggered falling at the landing.

"That was fucking weird" he stated as she helped him to her feet.

"You're telling me, why are you naked?" He opened the laundry bag, took out his clothes and started to dress. He seemed a little embarrassed by his nakedness and touched her. She watched herself dressing in his clothes.

"It was like I was possessed or something. It's like a dream, a quickly fading memory. Something made me go to the changing room where I think I knocked out a nurse changing at the end of her shift, or the beginning, who knows? Anyhow I stole her looks. When I returned to Eric his nurse was already at the door and called me across, she needed the toilet so I subbed for her. Whilst she was gone I used a syringe, some saline from the bag and a little pot to dissolve up the pill then injected it into his cannula. I guess I should have waited for his nurse to return but for some reason I thought she was likely to be a while. I also have a nagging suspicion were going to find Haako at Eric's. I have this lingering sense of boredom due to our lack of urgency and general ineptitude that unlike the memory of the events just now seems to be lingering, a bit like the taste of pickled herring." He explained.

"I'm not keen on Herring." She pointed out all matter o' fact.7

"Me neither, maybe that's why it feels like that?" She didn't continue the conversation it was too hard to talk whilst carrying him and flying. Once again she had forgotten she only had to think it.

Back at Eric's the lights were on and Donald couldn't remember how he'd left them. Perhaps a freed Haako was in or Amera had been in to do a night time shift? The door opened ahead of them.

"Did you do that?" Donald asked.

"I really have no idea, it just happens." Ella pointed out. It was becoming more and more frequent; she felt certain it was down to her implant manipulating the magnetic metal parts subconsciously but she couldn't be certain.

"You make my locksmith skills redundant." Donald stated.

"And you do the same for my mimicry." She retorted. Then they both laughed at the fact that she had no such skill, indeed apart from being double jointed she was pretty talentless, clearly a good choice for a hero?

Inside Donald went upstairs and found his mail suit whilst she found a plethora of pizza in the freezer and loaded Eric's double oven. "This is ridiculously comfortable" Donald stated surprised by the flowing fit and lack of weight. "I think I'll try sleeping in it." It was late, he had always been a night-owl but tonight he was tired "I'm shagged Ella, I'm going to turn in."

"I've put a ham and mushroom in for you." She explained.

"I'll have it for breakfast." He suggested but she knew she was hungry, very hungry, it had been a long day, her buttock was still painfully bruised and she doubted whether only five ten inch pizzas would be enough to make up for the days trials.

In the morning she spent a long time egesting almost as much pizza as she had ingested and not properly digested the night before. She checked her mass, thankfully unchanged from the previous day. It didn't seem to matter how much she ate these days, how big a binge, how painfully stretched her stomach. She felt hungry, a hunger that unlike in the past she could not deny. Eric's freezer was out of bacon and she was out of money. Donald always seemed to have money despite never seeming to have a job, but she guessed that having taken him from a secure mental health ward in a hospital it was doubtful he would have any on him. There was plenty of other stuff in the kitchen but for some reason she wanted bacon, more than want it was a need, a desire she had no choice other than to sate. She made coffee, took it up to Donald and gently shook him. "Wake up Resurrection man I need bacon."

He stirred slowly "I'm not certain about the name it would give away my main ability. I think I'll choose something a bit less defining, more abstract. You don't even like bacon."

"I do _now_ , so drink your coffee and suit up, let's go get some." She bounced on his bed like an excited kitten, the springs seemed to have more bounce today.

"Suit-up? What are you expecting to find down the supermarket? Galactus? You can't seriously be considering taking your sword and shield?" He was right she was going on instinct, a desire for bacon so intense she was prepared to kill to procure it and she wasn't considering the fate of the pig. She had been almost Vegan and these were not the thoughts of a hero not even those of a super villain. These were the thoughts of some petty criminal getting by day to day at the expense of others but she couldn't back down.

"You can never be too careful." She cautioned before going through Eric's wardrobe to find another long coat. It was a man's coat and like all of them not a good look but it would have to do and she was beginning to wonder if she'd ever get the Mulberry boots. She watched Donald as he stood before the full length mirror shifting his mail from one look to the next until he looked like everyone else bar his face which remained his; he was non-descript at the best of times. Her stomach or something else growled inside her abdomen and she hurried him up. The door locked itself behind them and off they went; talking in their heads as they did.

'How should we go about breaking Haako out?' She asked, she didn't fancy a frontal assault even if it were low security going against the law didn't seem too heroic and she was trying to be, even if a few moments back she was prepared to shoplift or even murder a butcher just for a few rashers.

'I was thinking about that whilst I was asleep last night' He replied and she was confused by the whole concept of thinking about things whilst sleeping but relieved she didn't have to, thinking, planning didn't come easy to her. 'I thought I would follow a guard home steal his identity and return with the: ring, bottle and injection. If it has the same effect on Haako as Eric they'll put him in hospital too and it will be relatively easy to spring him from there.' She however remembered the problems caused by just trying to get a pill to Eric and wasn't so certain that would be an easy task and Donald could somehow sense her uncertainty. 'It's fine' he reassured her 'I can do it all myself provided I can steal the guards identity without him raising the alarm'. She wasn't certain but had nothing better. Just then a car pulled up sharply.

The doors were violently flung open into their path and two men their identities masked by black ninja like masks leapt from the front and rear. The bearded, shaded driver stayed in place and the forth occupant was momentarily trapped by the traffic. Frustrated he opened his door into the traffic where it was impacted by a passing vehicle. The first two men had assault rifles and were raising them as they approached the McDonald's. She moved quickly the only thought in her head one of reward. 'If we save all the customers they're bound to give us a few Bacon and Egg McMuffins.'

'That was a joke?' Donald questioned 'That had to be a joke?' but although shocked by the gunmen and her humour he was still the first to act. 'I'll deal with the car' he stated as he moved behind the gunmen stepped into the space they had just left unseen by them and copied their fashion. He stepped back through the still open door into the front seat.

The shield fell from her back where it had subconsciously been magnetically attached clattered on the floor then leapt to her left arm as quickly as the sword armed itself in her right. She skewered him between the explosive in his suit as he approached the restaurant ready to fire. She let fly her lightning. Instinctively her shield tried to get in the way as her victim exploded.

She woke in a clothes shop all around were broken: windows, manikins, and people. She seemed fine not wounded, just stunned, whilst all around customers and assistants screamed, shards of glass jutting through their clothing from their flesh. Alive though; most seemed alive.

She flew back through the window she had entered, her target had gone. Then maybe not completely; there was a leg not too far distant that could have been his but no torso, alarmingly no head. The other gunman was disarmed and broken along with innocent bystanders it was impossible to tell with a cursory glance who was alive but some were: moving, bleeding, screaming. She could hear them screaming now her ear drums must have healed themselves. McDonald's was virtually untouched, it's reinforced glazing had become a crazed translucence of folded form but not far from the epicentre of the explosion a workman lay motionless with coffee everywhere and several large bags containing his crews breakfast. She pretended to check his pulse as she opened the bag then shuffling it under the remnants of Eric's coat flew to the cover of the rooves and waited on the sirens, they didn't take long just two bacon and egg McMuffins' and three hash browns. It was only then that she remembered. 'Donald! Are you alright?'

'Way to go girl.' Came the reply dripping in sarcasm. She found a container of maple syrup but there were no pancakes, peering over the parapet emergency services had arrived and were attending to people but there was no sign of another bag.

'What happened?' she asked, she really was clueless.

'I was a little busy myself but I'm assuming one of yours had a suicide jacket and when you challenged him he blew himself up?' He suggested 'The girl in the back of the car had one but your guy's explosion took the others out including her. Where are you?'

'On the roof. You?'

'I'm masquerading as police, a copy of some officer. No one's noticed there's two of us yet; it's all a bit of a mess down here.' He revealed.

'I'm not blind.' She confirmed.

'There's not much I can do here so I'm going to head off to the remand center, see you at the hospital later.'

'See if they do any emergency first aid courses whilst your there, I think we may need them.' She took the shield from her arm and it put itself back under her coat, then checked her sword suddenly thinking she must have dropped it when she was hurled into the store but it was safely in its scabbard. Then she heard another explosion and scanned the roofs looking for smoke. Finding some she flew straight there, but it was not a coordinated attack this was a house fire.


	8. Chapter 8: FIRE

She landed next to the man who appeared to be in charge "Hi I'm Storm maiden, how can I help?" she was trying to sound like a hero but even so her squeaky little voice sounded entirely unconvincing.

"How much rain can you make?" the fire chief asked looking at the cloudless skies.

"Err. None I just do lighting really, but I can" Another fireman ran across to his chief and interrupted her.

"Seems it's a derelict house being used by squatters, mostly illegals, we need an interpreter."

"Any idea of language or how many are still in there?" The chief asked.

"Seems a broad mix of African & Middle Eastern and all the lower levels are apparently clear but they seemed to indicate there may be people in the attic space." Without another question or thought she was off, not even an 'up, up and away' it was after all she thought, the heroic thing to do.

Above the building it was hot; she knew it would be after all heat rises. 'That's how hot air balloons work' she thought to herself secretly complimenting herself on assured knowledge every school child knew to be incorrect; but not her she'd missed that lesson. Slowly she descended into the heat and thick black smoke then coughing and spluttering she flew out to catch her breath. She suddenly realised she wasn't Super-girl; that some things would be beyond her like seeing through or breathing smoke. She took a deep breath and chocked on the previously inhaled particles then more carefully filled her lungs before flying back in.

She used gravity to drop through the roof without care for anyone that may have been beneath the falling tiles and beams. Inside the searing heat and thick black smoke obscured all vision but unperturbed she began a fingertip search of the smouldering floorboards.

The fireman cursed as he struggled to carry her down the ladder but before he reached the bottom she started to come around and subconsciously negated her weight. By the bottom run she had floated from him. "Thanks for your help." He stated sarcastically as he removed his respirator. "I get the idea you're new to this but I really hate putting my life at risk to save idiots, especially flying ones with really low quality wigs!" She landed, dropped to her knees and choked, vomiting the recent stolen breakfast, she became aware that the cheap cos-play wig had melted and then solidified into a mass and now was welded to both her scalp and her singed mousy brown hair. He was still berating her but she wasn't listening, she'd wanted to help but clearly hadn't.

A kindly paramedic offered, in fact insisted, to take her to hospital with the other casualties and she accepted, she wasn't certain how often the Avengers spent time on a ward but what harm could come of it?

Not for a second did she consider it odd that she was moved ahead of the far more damaged victims in triage. Neither did she find the change of staff odd; not noticing that the doctors and nurses with name badges had been replace by others without. When the nice male nurse with the painful looking scar told her to 'put on the mask and breathe deeply the Oxygen would help purge any Carbon monoxide from her system' she did, after all carbon monoxide was bad most people had a detector these days so it had to be a significant hazard.

She was the last to wake and surprised to find herself in a cell equipped to house four occupants. There were currently only three: Eric, Haako and herself.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty." Haako said acknowledging her flickering eyelids; there was little else to watch bar her and Eric, the two bunk-beds and a rudimentary toilet.

"Just stay between us Haako." Eric instructed a touch of fear, even panic in his voice.

"What's going on?" She asked "How come you're both here? Where is here? Why am I here? I thought I was going to hospital." With a simple

"I don't know." Eric answered all her questions. For once he was ignorant of any facts and it wasn't a condition he was comfortable with. "Are you feeling sexually aroused?"

"Am I" she stammered shocked "You've got to be kidding" she started to laugh but Eric wasn't laughing he had his serious face on. "No I'm not. Do you have a problem, down there?" She tried not to but found herself staring at the grey cotton shorts. Both men were wearing the same style, same fabric shorts and t-shirt which she guessed were standard issue, but standard issue to where she had no idea. She checked herself; she wore the same uniform but hers was far too baggy, they clearly had nothing in her size even when it was worn over the chain mail. She had no idea since they had denied her of her ring, sword and shield why they had not taken that as well.

"No it's fine. It's just that women seem to be obsessed with" he stopped and rephrased what he was about to say "It's as if the sight of me fills them with some unquenchable desire, some all-encompassing lust." He actually looked embarrassed rather than overjoyed.

"That's an odd super power, can you do anything else?" She enquired.

"I'm strong enough to break standard medical restraints, even when they're being aided by a few nurses waiting their turn whilst a doctor rides me. Other than that I haven't had opportunity to find out. When I escaped and got back home my place was full of men in black looking for stuff I took a few out and seemed highly resistant to the Tasers and anesthetic darts but something took me out and I woke up here."

"You won't believe what happened to me." Haako chimed in "Donald has taken a job as a prison officer and gave me this drink and immunisation. I didn't know prison officers were qualified to do that I thought it would be a nurse. Seems odd they'd let Donald be a prison officer with his record? Anyway seems I had a really bad reaction to the vaccine and they had to put me in the prison infirmary."

"They didn't take you to a hospital?" Ella asked.

"No all prisons have fully equipped infirmaries these days, why wouldn't they use it?"

"Because that was the plan and I guess we didn't think it through well enough." Haako gave her a whimsical look, Donald clearly hadn't bothered to tell him the plan. She wondered how Donald hadn't thought about the infirmary issue then she remembered for all his boasting and criminal career he'd never been locked up.

"It turns out Donald isn't a prison officer after all, they say I must have been mistaken. I guess he could have cloned someone's identity for some scam." You don't know how right you are thought Ella but without the rings no one could hear her thoughts.

"Anyhow a few days later I'm fine again and back on the wing with a group of new boys; some gang or other, all friends, looking to establish a power base and 'cause I'm the: tallest, butchest, meanest looking guy they decide to pick on me. Next thing I know I'm covered in entrails, not mine, surrounded by guards with: riot shields, batons and Tasers. They get stuck in too and next thing I know I'm covered in entrails, body parts everywhere, with some guy gibbering about me biting someone's head off. Like that were even possible, an ear maybe but not someone's head. Anyway the army turns up and starts shooting and guess what?

"You end up covered in entrails?" Ella answered.

"No I end up here with Eric, turns out it was all a dream. Doctor told me it was all a dream or it would be better for me to think of it as such."

"In the dream did Donald give you a ring?" Ella asked.

"Yeah how'd you know that?"

"Because it wasn't a dream and they took mine too." Eric confirmed before she asked.

"As far as superheroes go I really am crap," she stated still stinging from her recent failure in the fire, "at least they won't find Donald." She stated as a panel in the wall slid aside to reveal a plate of sandwiches, a jug of juice and three flimsy plastic cups. She collected the plate and took it to her bunk "Don't worry boys I'm certain they'll feed you soon." She started on the first round hungrily.

"She eats now?" Asked Haako surprised.

"Yes" replied Eric "She eats for two."

"Oh" Haako responded grasping entirely the wrong end of the stick.

Quite some time after she had finished the last of the sandwiches more arrived. Eric and Haako defended them. "I guess this means we are under surveillance in here." Eric stated "I think we should be upfront with them and tell them everything." Ella snorted in shock.

"The conspiracy theorist wants to tell our captors everything?" she sputtered.

"It does sound strange granted, but yes. I pretty certain we've been captured by the government, the state, or something like that, perhaps the Illuminati or whatever has been in the background of our once great nation. Anyhow they will have the expertise, equipment and finance to research, equip and direct us to where we are most needed." Eric explained.

" _You_ want to be a government lackey?" he was making sense but she really found it difficult to believe, maybe it would suit her and Haako but she couldn't believe he would have altered "Why? What's changed?"

"After I managed to get clear of the hospital I had to keep away from women, everyone I came within about three meters of was clawing at the jeans I'd stolen. It wasn't a good time I'm not at all proud of myself. I'm not keen on entering a monastic order so I need help controlling this ability it must be some sort of malfunctioning mind control. That's why I handed myself in only to find they'd already captured you and some hours later Haako too." Eric explained.

"So how long have I been here?" Ella asked she was getting used to losing: hours, days, weeks; but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Not certain, they didn't give us a clock." Haako stated, open handed looking at the empty walls. "It is a bit Spartan given we're _giving them our help freely_." He emphasised his voice ringing off the walls.

"They probably didn't realise that until now and have no idea what threat we could possibly pose but at least we get fed and I'm not certain how freely anything is given these days by anybody. Especially not the government or whoever is behind this?" Eric stated.

"So maybe this isn't government?" Ella enquired sounding more than a little worried.

"It almost certainly is, but who knows who controls them. Who watches the watchers and who makes the decisions; the ones that really count?" Eric pointed out clearly he'd not given up on conspiracy theories he had simply chosen to become a willing part of one. A little while later the gas started to take effect and they settled to a peaceful sleep on their bunks unaware of why.

She woke strapped to a table in much the same way Eric had been in hospital but hers was tilted about eighty degrees almost standing her upright. The room was again sparse. The nice nurse with the scar from the fire, was pulling the syringe from the cannula in her hand.

"She should come around soon." He stated as he checked the monitors beside her. Ahead of her she could see four people sat on chairs behind a couple of tables that they didn't properly fit behind, it was clear the furniture had come from a different place; and she guessed that was true of the people present too. By the only obvious door stood two security guards in Kevlar suits with Tasers, batons and guns. Directly ahead of her against the wall was a smaller person in an armoured suit, like Ironman's but blue and white plates over a black mesh mail. It had small wings protruding from a suspected backpack concealed from view by the position and pose. A tall well-muscled man wandered purposefully throughout the scene whilst everyone else had their set positions, he was the first to speak.

"So Ella are you a terrorist or just a poor excuse for a hero?"

'Shit they know my name' she thought but no one thought back. It wasn't a surprise they had clearly done their homework whilst she'd been asleep. She wondered if they'd already spoken to Eric and Haako and she was just confirming what they had said 'Eric, Donald, what should I say?' She thought but there was no reply. Although her wrists and forearms were tightly bound to the frame she looked down to her hands, then she remembered her ring was gone. "A poor excuse for a hero." She replied sheepishly "Why would you think me a terrorist?" The tall man didn't answer her and the nurse nodded at him affirming something.

"Well Ella my associates and I are all keen to hear your story." She couldn't see her: ring, shield or sword anywhere.

"You are the government aren't you?" She pleaded with a tear in her eye and shaky jaw. She was scared and intimidated which was clearly the point but unlike Eric she didn't understand the point of this. She hadn't a clue about interrogation techniques other than what she had seen in films but Loviatar did.

It acted instinctively discharging as much energy as it could through the contacts in her body, down the melting wires to the overcharged exploding machines that monitored her. Then she attempted to pick up: the suit she was still wearing, the frame, her host's body but it was too massive. She only succeeded in toppling it. Arms restrained she face planted unable to save herself in any way; pile driven into the rubber coated concrete floor. The frame lay heavy on her as she listened to the nurse run to the wall and return with a whooshing extinguisher to put out the flaming equipment. She watched the armoured feet thud closer and listened as its servos lifted the frame back to its upright position. The nurse stepped in pushing cotton plugs into her nostrils to stem the bleed that unbeknown to him had stopped as soon as it had begun.

"Hi Ella" the interrogator had changed, this she guessed would be the 'good cop'? The thin Asian woman in the left most seat seemed to just carry on as if nothing had just happened "I'm doctor Chan. I'm a medical doctor with knowledge and experience of xenobiology I am particularly interested in your physiology and that of your symbiont. This is professor Rautio he is a medical technologist who is particularly interested in trying to reverse engineer the stasis case your internal organs were hidden in."

"You have no idea how beneficial such devices would be for implant surgery." Rautio butted in; Chan gave him a stare and continued, she was obviously in charge now the tall man had stopped talking.

"This" She began

"Hi I'm Karl Mustonen, a metallurgist. They've dragged me in because of the strange alloy your equipment is made from."

"Iron, Nickle and something unknown I know" she responded. He raised an eyebrow just a little.

"You've analysed it or been told?" He asked.

"My friend at the Uni did it for me, said I should send it to CERN."

"But you didn't?" Mustonen enquired.

"No I didn't the only people who know are" She stopped abruptly and the tall man tutted in annoyance that she was perhaps not a complete imbecile

"Let me guess: Haako, Eric and Donald?" He asked but she stayed silent.

"Did your friend tell you about the isotope mix in it in both the Iron and Nickle?" Mustonen asked.

"No" she said trying to answer Mustonen and hoping the honesty of her answer would confuse the exploded polygraph as an answer for the tall man's question about her friends.

"It's the kind of mix you would probably find in the centre of a supernova." Mustonen revealed.

"Is that a good thing?"

"In so far as it is completely beyond our current technology to make or harvest I guess it means it's alien and I'm not certain if that's a good thing or not. What do you think?" He responded.

"I think it's a good thing" She began, strange thoughts, an unusual creativity had been flowing through her mind "They abducted me because they perceived my desire to be a hero and a hero's a good thing isn't it?"

"It depends" The initial interrogator responded "Not if you are syndicate hit men or radicalised terrorists but yes if you're a visiting Russian diplomat or an illegal immigrant, I'd guess."

"Who precisely abducted you Ella?" Mr tall continued as she had decided to call the unnamed leader of the interrogation, the 'bad cop', he seemed less intimidating with a name.

"I'm not saying anything else until I get my: phone call, ring and a large portion of extra hot Singapore Chow Mein." She concluded, it seemed a reasonable request but as they left someone was whispering about trying the other two. "Make that two large portions a spring roll and a sweat and sour sauce!" She shouted after them, she wasn't ordering for the others as well' just herself and she was beginning to hate this persistent hunger, this need to eat. She was left with the nurse and the two burly guards and they were under strict orders to 'say nothing'. At least the nurse adjusted the frame to make it more bed like, but still too uncomfortable to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9: SHE

It wasn't too long before Mr tall returned with a few minions who quickly released her. Then he gave her ring to her. "Does this mean were engaged?" She joked.

"It seems you got your phone call." He replied, ignoring her joke he was clearly less than amused. He beckoned her towards the door

"Chow mein?" She inquired.

"Don't push it." He stated, his nose had clearly been put out of joint, he was perhaps not so in control as he would like.

'Any idea what's going on?' She asked the boys assuming they would have been given their rings too. Haako and Eric immediately responded to her mind as if she had been off line and just connected. They had been given their rings also but had no idea why the attitude to them had changed so markedly.

'It's down to me.' Douglas responded once the hurried mental chatter between the three had come to a natural pause. 'I was in the house when they came looking for the other ring and Eric's suit. They didn't find it though I quickly took them and the note and fled the place.'

'Did you take my guts?' asked Ella with maternal concern for her discarded body parts.

'No?' He responded unable to work with what she had given him to generate any more meaningful response.

'The organs' the dwarves took to make room for Loviatar were in a stasis case behind the chest of draws.' She explained.

'No.' He replied more assuredly 'I didn't take your guts in a box, I didn't know they were there. Remind me, why are you keeping them?' She didn't have a clue. She liked being a superhero and certainly didn't want to return to the checkout humdrum of her previous life. Perhaps she was keeping them because they were hers. Perhaps because the dwarves had given them to her like Loviatar and the: suit, sword and shield. She really didn't know.

'Why the sudden change of mood in our government goons though?' She asked Douglas outright.

'You remember that Finland signed up to be part of the Superheroes of Europe initiative?' He enquired.

'Yes.' Eric responded, the other two stayed silent they weren't big on politics or current affairs. Of course they knew about S.H.E. but weren't informed enough to know there was actually an agreement or that Finland was part of it, they had never thought about it and had just suspected it was a loose club of super beings without any political authority.

'I contacted them and they were very interested in us. Finland after all hasn't had a representative since Javelin died.' He explained.

'Are you here?' Ella asked.

'Fuck no! I don't even know where you are but they would have no difficulty finding out. There was no way I was going to surrender my own liberty.'

She was lead down a maze of corridors to a lab where Mustonen had been working with the sword and shield. Almost as soon as she entered the sword removed itself for the analyser, sheathed itself in her sword belt which it carried across the room. The belt buckled around her. The shield completed its re-equipping far faster.

"That metal is really remarkable" Mustonen began but Mr tall cut him off from what was likely to be a long and probably quite boring metallurgical analysis.

"Sorry we have people to see." Mustonen raised his hand trying to force them to stay and listen "Urgently." Mr tall emphasised leaving with his entourage, Ella was intrigued but felt compelled to follow especially as she was perhaps going to meet real superheroes!

'I do hope I can get some autographs?' she thought, the others in the mind-link sighed in desperation.

They were clearly the last to arrive in the huge meeting room with its circular table around which sat: Eric, Haako, three costumed heroes she had never seen, the small armoured hero from not long back and Dr Chan; there were a lot of empty seats. It the centre of the table was a brain stem in a container of bubbling blueish liquid which was either glowing like the liquid in the vial had been or illuminated from the solid shiny steel base it was sat on or in. When her party had entered the room the hero dressed in the Icelandic flag had stood politely but she ignored him; she ignored everything else for a second; she run up to Haako and Eric who feeling obligated stood to receive her hugs. 'What and who?' She asked Eric but someone else answered inside her head.

'Hello Ella. It is very nice to meet you. If you and your friends would care to sit I will introduce everyone and we can have a little chat.' She felt almost compelled to do as was asked and did not fight the feeling sitting with her friends whilst Mr tall sat with Dr Chan and the small armoured person and the costumed male sat with his two female counterparts. 'I am the Belgian Brain' it informed the assembly, exactly who he was seemed obvious despite the fact no one was actually talking. 'These are three of my S.H.E. team mates: Gunnar, Tricolore and Red Dragon' as their names were mentioned each gave a little wave across the table although even Ella could work out who was who since Tricolore wore the blue, white and red of France and Red Dragon was a redhead with a prominent red dragon icon on her chest. 'Dr Chan, Director Mäkelä and your Valkyrie of course you already know.' The brain assumed.

The brain continued to talk but she was distracted by a bowl of mints that seemed to have been placed just beyond her reach. She stretched and fumbled and then stood up mounted the table and on hands and knees retrieved them. She placed a large handful in her mouth and suddenly became aware of everyone again. They were looking at her and the brain had stopped talking. She tried to tell them to 'don't mind me. You just carry on.' But only succeeded in dropping a few spit covered white shiny balls from her mouth, failing to catch them and crushing one underfoot as it sort to roll away from her.

The brain continued its translation; angry looks and thoughts passed between the director and Gunnar who seemed to be the groups elected leader for this meeting at least. She listened in and it seemed that Finland had been reticent in its obligation to provide S.H.E. with a replacement for Javelin. Finland it seemed didn't have that many meta-humans or if it did they weren't coming forward. Although they had their Valkyrie they weren't allowed to donate it as Denmark been quicker with the bureaucracy and submitted theirs first.

"Whatever is the issue with having two or three identical powered suits anyhow?" The director asked with forthright intolerance "It's not as if as a group you weren't and still aren't fielding several almost identical super soldier types." He stood up and pointed, _actually pointed_ , accusingly at Gunnar and Tricolore "Both of you were in S.H.E. at the same time as: Amazon, Weisse Kreuz and Claymore. You're all virtually the same; top percentile humans with: high cellular density, immunity to disease, limited vulnerability, fast healing and highly efficient muscles!" It was clear he didn't like having control taken away from him by anyone but especially by foreign nationals. Dr Chan shuffled through her papers and typed on her tablet.

'That is the point entirely director' Gunnar replied seated and entirely rested in his chair without any air of intimidation 'We were quite an unbalanced team with limited breadth in our abilities. Super soldiers like me are all well and good but you hardly need an army of us.' The Belgian Brain mentally translated his words for everyone and it was quite amusing to see a poorly dubbed film taking place in real time.

"Isn't that the whole point of soldiers?" Eric interjected, Ella was amazed he dare make comment in such company but he had. Gunnar and the director both looked at him condescendingly "I mean the whole point of soldiers is to field an army isn't it?" Dr Chan put her hand up but was ignored.

'I see your point.' Stated Gunnar 'but what we need is versatility; Magma and Oracle provide us with some but'

'As do I' interjected the Belgian Brain. Everyone could tell it was the brain talking for himself he had mentally given everyone accents so people could tell who was saying what. Besides Gunnar's lips weren't moving.

'Yes obviously, as do you.' Gunnar continued his accent a little less Icelandic and a little more Belgian, as if the brain were talking to itself 'but we need more variety.'

'It is the spice of life; is it not?' Tricolore pointed out, it was the first thing she had said and Ella hoped the sophisticated Parisian wasn't only going to speak in cliché. Dr Chan continued to gesture and everyone continued to ignore her.

'However the Valkyrie project was created with a very different purpose and only includes: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Estonia. The fact that the project and S.H.E. have different membership is always going to cause problems if we try to inter-mesh the two.' Gunnar pointed out.

'So why did you let the Danes field their Valkyrie as a member?' The director insisted.

'They had no one else.' Gunnar replied 'You on the other hand' he stated looking at Ella and her friends 'seem quite well stocked for once.' Chan was still waving even more frantically and still being ignored by everyone, Mäkelä included.

'Even if these were fully trained and politically sanctioned' Mäkelä started again. Ella could take no more of it. She wasn't certain if it were some kind of feminist solidarity, a desire to end the men's posturing, or just a wish to find out what De Chan was becoming so flustered by. Whatever it was she stood the air around her glowed; she drew her sword and impaled the table in front of her. Lightning arced around her to the ceiling and floor whilst the impaled table charred and then began to burn where it was punctured.

'Let her speak!' she demanded in as low a tone as she could muster. Everyone was looking at her and suddenly she realised what she had done. She hadn't been disposed to violent outbursts in the past but then she wasn't really capable of them. She pulled the sword from the table and sheathed it expertly with a flourish before turning to one of the government goons at the doorway. 'Singapore chow mein, extra hot with a pancake roll and a pot of sweet and sour sauce, _please_.' Everyone turned their gaze to Dr Chan who was a little shocked and took several seconds to reflect before she begun.

'I was just thinking about the fact that the original S.H.E. had so many super soldiers and they seem to have the same base abilities as this new batch.' Everyone continued to pay her attention, no one spoke. 'Maybe you two and the others were a test batch created by whoever has created these.' She addressed Gunnar and Tricolore whilst indicating Ella and her friends. 'So three of the original batch of five died and their maker decided to upgrade. He used the same serum as before but provided each with an extra twist that makes them different, more unique, more powerful.'

'So we're upgrades?' Haako asked.

'Unfortunately the others need our help.' Stated the brain. 'It would seem the anomaly you detected seems to be an alien invasion force. By the sound of it a very large heavily armed force. We need to go and we need to call in reinforcements.'

'I take it you want these and our Valkyrie?' The director offered.

'How well trained are they?' Asked Gunnar 'Can they fight?'

'More importantly can they take orders?' Asked the brain.

'I can fight.' Answered Eric, he was after all an accomplished martial artist.

'and I take orders well.' Answered Ella,'Ask Eric'. Haako just shrugged. The Brain slid across the table into Tricolore's arms.

'Ok then to the Quinjets.' He ordered. Ella stood and took Eric and Haako's hands and holding them tightly whispered

"Avengers Assemble."

"Don't any of you die!" Chan shouted after them "I've still lots of tests to do."


	10. Chapter 10: In-flight entertainment

Director Mäkelä led Ella's group to a room in which there was some equipment laid out ready for them. "I don't understand why only Ella was given any defensive capability; maybe your mysterious benefactor was intending giving stuff to you two in person but for the minute you can make use of these combat suits." He picked up Eric's and tossed it to him "and we've made certain yours tears apart easy in case you change." He told Haako as he threw him his heavier bundle. "We didn't know if you'd need anything else. After all we haven't had time to run all the tests the science team wanted to."

"I change?" asked Haako.

"How many times do I have to ask?" Ella stated as she dreamt of the chow mein, her mouth began watering again.

'Are you coming?' The brain asked.

"Suit up in the Quinjet boys. Seems S.H.E. is in a hurry" Mäkelä told them.

'Like all women' Eric thought, not meaning to but Ella didn't seem to take offence and thankfully they were no longer linked by the Brain. Mäkelä hurried them from the room, the building to the airstrip where one jet remained, prepped and ready to go.

Inside there were seats for eight in the hold and the pilot wasted no time taking off; before the ramp was fully closed or anyone had strapped in. As Ella fumbled with the five point harness she noticed the two pilots were in white uniforms she didn't recognise but suspected they were either S.H.E. support staff or Finnish air force camouflaged for winter. Their Valkyrie, the Finnish one, was sat in her seat holding onto her chair, not bothering with the harness but they all did even though there was no illuminated sign to demand it.

'What about Donald?' Ella asked the boys silently with her thoughts; she didn't want this Valkyrie overhearing until they knew they could trust it. She understood what the dwarve's message had meant now but thought she had best check, not pass the ring too soon. Not that she since Donald had it. "That was FIRE in Tikkakoski wasn't it?" she asked the armoured hero. It nodded back seemingly reluctant to attempt a conversation over the roar of the engines vertical take-off.

'We leave Donald out of this for now." Eric advised 'Don't even mention him, he's our ace in the hole.'

'Leave me out of what?' Donald asked.

'Saving Finland from an alien invasion with a group of heroes called S.H.E.' Eric thought back.

'Shit really? You guys have all the fun. Don't forget I've got your mail and the spare ring. Oh and try to get me a date with Oracle.'

'You know these guys?' Ella asked.

'They're S.H.E. Ells; everybody knows them.' Donald and Eric chimed back in virtual unison.

Sometime later as the jet sped over the northern wastes, the snow laden clouds, their Valkyrie finally spoke "Well be arriving soon, put these helmets on they will give you a bit of protection and are wired with coms so _we_ can all communicate even if the Brian goes down. If that does happen most of S.H.E. know some English."

"We don't" Ella stated indicating herself and Haako.

"Well" said their Valkyrie "Don't bother trying to speak to anyone out of this group I don't think any are much good with Finnish, if they understand any at all. The plan is to drop us off about two kilometres from the aliens from a height of about eight hundred meters. We'll meet up with the others, get further information and formulate a plan before we attack." They put the helmets on.

"About how long?" Eric asked the Valkyrie who had a clearly feminine voice. "and where are the parachutes?"

"About five minutes and I'll carry you two whilst Storm maiden fly's by herself. That is unless either of you boys fly?" The Valkyrie responded.

To be honest I don't think either me or my friend have a clue what we can do but jumping out of a plane to see if you can fly doesn't seem sensible; we'll take the assist." Eric pointed out.

"Have you really no idea?" an electronic voice not unlike the male Siri asked via the helmet.

"No" Eric answered "Seems Haako has violent episodes in which he can't remember what he's done and me well I'm just a super soldier serum enhanced human women seem compelled to fuck."

"Great" said Siri not sounding at all sarcastic "Recon tells us all the aliens appear male and an unreasoning Hulk we could really do without."

"Shit that's it!" Eric announced excited and flustered "We're someones joke versions of the classic Avengers. Ella you have a shield just like cap and you use archaic melee weapons, throw lighting and fly; remind you of anyone?"

"Thor I guess?" Ella responded the similarity was too striking, how come no one had noticed.

"Thor and Cap are big strong powerhouses though so he picked a tiny anorexic girl; shit we're all parodies. You Haako are Banner. Banner is an eminent scientist who changes into a mindless monster. You Haako are hardly the sharpest tool in the box intellect wise even before you change and we're supposed to give the fifth ring to this Valkyrie. Make her part of our five person team? She has to be a poor approximation to Iron man?" Eric was on a roll but then he came to himself and Donald. Donald had got there first though asking

'So which of us is Hawkeye and which the Black Widow?'

"I guess I'm the widow and he's turned a super-agent able to use her good looks to her advantage into a reasonable martial artist who hasn't a hope of doing so because women are obsessed with impaling themselves on my cock."

'They're the breaks I guess Eric you get to have any woman you like whilst I can just be anybody I like.' Donald joked 'I can't be Hawkeye though, I haven't even been given a ranged weapon.'

'No you don't get it Donald it's not just women I'd like to, it's all of them regardless!'

"Drop zone in 30 seconds, opening the ramp!" One of the pilot's shouted back despite clearly being audible, wired into the coms by his own helmet. The lights dimmed, they were dropping through the clouds buffeted by turbulence and by no means ready but it was too late to turn back now.

After the hurried descent they quickly found the others despite the now quite heavy snow and strong wind. The other white Quinjet had landed and everyone had crammed inside to discuss a plan of attack. There were three new people who the Brain quickly introduced as the Swedish Magma (a thermal energy user), Greek Oracle (a precog) and Danish Valkyrie (who looked identical to their own baring a few decals here and there and the Danish flag on her left pauldron). He then explained there was a fourth person, an Italian called Interface but he was 'yet to establish himself in this reality'. Everyone else seemed to ignore this statement so Ella thought it best not to ask.

'There are a couple of hundred aliens excavating something at the site. They must either have teleport technology or their drop ships have abandoned them to their task. There are no large machines or permanent structures. The aliens appear to be male homoeothermic reptilian males about human size and mass although quite heavily built.' Oracle explained from deep within her fur lined white Parker. 'They have combat armour we have not been able to assess the effectiveness of and are routinely armed with pistols and entrenching tools.'

'One thing of note,' The Danish Valkyrie added 'They have quite a high thermal image, so either they themselves or the suits appear quite hot. This does mean it will be easier for us' she indicated the other Valkyrie 'to target them, but assuming they have IR targeting it will be easier for them to identify avoiding friendly fire incidents. Just target those of us that aren't 39 degrees.'

'Do any of you new guys have thermal imaging?' Magma asked, to which they all shook their heads and the air around him hazed momentarily as he increased his temperature to match that of the aliens.

'Could it mean they are more susceptible to cold?' Red dragon asked.

'Possibly but we really have no way of knowing.' The brain replied 'You may as well use your frost fingers but I don't think anyone else has the capacity to apply cold damage.' The brains eyes scanned the group. 'Anyone?' Again the Ella, Eric & Haako shook their heads.

"Have we tried talking to them? Negotiating? Diplomacy?" Eric asked forgetting to just think it, but the Brain translated anyhow.

'I spawned a reality in which I gave that a go and things didn't go too well for that alternate self. In fact I've spawned several realities based on different tactical approaches but I didn't know we had these guys so never factored them in, in each time-line we lost but if we use the plan which had us closest to winning these four will tip the balance I'm certain. I have a good feeling about them.' It seemed S.H.E. where used to taking her advice, accepting of her hunches and it wasn't long before the three elements used were ready to attack along with the 'Avengers Fennoscandia' as Eric had dubbed his team, although the Brain still called them team three he found numbers faster to think if than words.

The plan was a simple one, which given Ella and Haako's intellect was essential, very simple; attack from three directions, rather than the pincer Oracle had simulated previously with the two Valkyries and Quinjet 2 opening fire from above. The aliens would scatter and divided would fall taken out by the three teams of three whilst the airborne assault rained fire from the sky. The brain would co-ordinate from inside this Quinjet, Quinjet 1, which would stay grounded acting as potential back up or a fall-back position. Interface had pulled himself into this reality.

'Everyone's ready' Oracle told them, there was no point in waiting for people to say they were when it was obvious, to her at least. She concentrated and for a second light seemed to radiate from everywhere. 'OK that's another reality created. Let's hope we win in this one.'

'Yes let's hope it works this time.' Prayed Interface 'I'm getting sick of recreating myself to…' He was going to say today but didn't after all time was pretty meaningless when Oracle was calling the shots. The three person teams headed out to their starting positions and then lay low waiting for the command to act or at least the roar of mini-guns.

"Ella, you know what you said about curses?" Eric asked as they hid in a copse of pines and thick spongy fern.

"I was only repeating what Doctor Dwarf said; that 'with great power came great curses'."

"I think I've worked that out too. We're not only mockeries of the avengers but also of ourselves."

"How can anyone be a mockery of themselves?" Haako asked.

"Well you have an anger issue that's been enhanced, far worse than it used to be. I mean you used to just kill the occasional perp, now you murder whole groups and bite people's heads off. Donald had life threatening depression but now even if it gets _really_ bad he can't kill himself. Ella had serious life threatening food issues and now all I see her do is eat." Ella considered she hadn't had the Singapore noodles, pancake roll and sauce and was hungry, unbearably so. She had never eaten as much as she had the last few days but

"With no guts comes no calories." She chirped in happily "and you have relationship issues and now you can't actually have a relationship. The girls don't want to play; they just want to fuck you."

"A curse like that I could be happy with." Haako stated. He had relationship issues also, the sheer scale of him one hundred and ninety three centimetres and close to a hundred kilos before the change tended to put girls off and those it didn't he'd find a way to avoid before they laughed at his tiny penis.

'Fire!' Shouted the brain and they heard the Gatling's rip and the repulsors buzz as they ionised the air up ahead. 'Stand ready teams you should have incoming in: ten, nine,' The brain continued the countdown and they steadied themselves.

"How many?" Ella asked Eric, interpreted the thought behind her inadequate question.

"Two hundred divided by twelve is about seventeen a piece." The aliens ran past the copse and she attempted to skewer one, but even though it was surprised, an easy mark her sword skimmed off his armour to no effect. It immediately turned and shot her catching her off guard. She felt the flesh beneath her armour burn as her undergarment shriveled and burnt. She swung the sword again but not only did the creature parry with its gun, more a carbine than a pistol, held in two hands to execute blocks more easily it betrayed the fact that these aliens were trained, highly trained. Her sword bounced off without even damaging its weapon. The alien swept her leg, it was faster than her, then leveled the gun at her unprotected head as she sat spray legged in the snow in-front of him and waited for death.

Her shield parried the shot away as she sprung up floating in the air in front of him, she impaled his eye with the tip of her blade then fried his brain with lightning. His other eye exploded as he fell from her but she was already aware of two shots impacting her shield as she spun and another burning her arse just where the coastguard had shot her. "My arse must be huge!" she screamed "I'm going on a diet if I survive this!"

Eric had somehow already downed three as if he were demonstrating Aikido at an exhibition but they weren't: dead, unconscious or disabled. Momentarily stunned and defenseless it would only take another well aimed strike if someone could make it, but no one could. Haako wasn't Haako anymore. It stood almost four meters tall, it's head lost in the low branches but it was clear what it was; a great bear, fur with the luster of spun gold and although they shot him point blank and it was clear he was taking bloody wounds but they didn't phase him whilst his monstrous claws cut through their defenses like paper, dragging their organs from them, depositing them in the settling snow.

She spun unleashing all the strength she could muster, a coiled spring unwinding into the air expecting there to be nothing there, but there was. The alien targeting her back with its entrenching tool lost his head. Somewhere in the snow an alien commander already had a firm grasp of the situation, she could hear him barking instructions that were quite unintelligible, words she couldn't respond to 'If only I spoke alien.'

'He's instructing his troops to focus their attentions on the bear. He has recognised Eric can keep a few down but can't take them out whilst you are perhaps too tough for their 'basic weapon' to harm. They're planning on grappling you, pinning you down until heavy weapons turn up.' The Brain informed her. Almost instantly an alien grabbed her shield and holding it firmly fell to the ground dragging her with him. She drew back her blade and immediately that arm was grasped firmly by another whilst a third grabbed her legs; she fell dropping her sword.

Beyond she could see four aliens who had holstered their weapons and were actually sparing with Eric. As one fell another sprung to its feet and whenever he tried to move in to finish one, two attacked forcing his retreat. Most of their group were shooting Haako who roared and bled whilst occasionally swatted one. Despite this sporadic disembowelment their moral seemed unshakable. The commander, slightly larger with armour that was more ornate stepped out of the blizzard and stood over her a foot either side of her scrawny body; he lowered the barrel of his weapon until she was staring down it.

'Can anyone HELP!' she screamed mentally then she tried to surrender but it was clear he didn't understand. She watched as his finger began to flex, then he fell on her.


	11. Chapter 11: Enter Thor!

For a second or two her assailants were shocked; she freed her sword arm but couldn't see her sword. Then her arm was grabbed and pinned again. She remembered the woman she had so recently helped in the ally back in Helsinki.

'Arrgh!' Haako screamed in her head. He had been shot so many times his golden fur was painted crimson by his wounds. He was teetering on the edge of consciousness.

Another alien mounted her chest and raised his entrenching tool above his head.

'Help?' She asked, less forcefully this time, not knowing who had helped her with the previous attacker. He stood for a second before falling; the tool thudding into the ground near her head deflected at the last moment by an unknown force. He collapsed on her like a spent lover but this time the aliens did not loosen their grip.

Another climbed atop, gun in hand but a beam of light sent him tumbling from her. A few moments later he returned and this time crushing her ribs with his legs, he prepared to ride her like a wild horse whilst helpless she awaited death. The beam struck him again but he squeezed tighter, this time the beam failed to unseat him. He held the gun to her jaw and then he was gone ripped from his mount by an irresistible force accompanied by the sound of an effected gong.

Something flew back over her too fast to identify in the snow, she heard it thud into a hand close by. Booted feet stood astride her and quickly she was released as each grappler fell victim to Mjölnir. She looked up; she was lying in the snow between Thor's legs and he was reaching down to her with his free hand as his hammer struck one of Eric's foes some fifteen meters distant. She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet, she didn't let go, she could actually feel her cheeks blushing warm despite the weather. She was holding Thor's hand and he was looking at her.

"The bear is tame?" Thor asked, loudly excited by the heat of battle.

"Y-yes" She stammered excited by standing next to Thor. She looked around and found her sword impaled through the leaders skull, straight down is neck and buried in his torso. She tried to pull it lose but it would not come. Thor used his boot and hand, he had only just shaken free of her hold, to lose it. It looked ridiculous, far too small for him, not much larger than a dagger. He looked at the corpse and considered how it appeared to have been slain.

He turned to Ella and what he saw was a: short, skinny, Asgardian boy bedecked in Asgardian chain with an Asgardian shield. A shaven headed, singed eye browed, sapphire eyed Asgardian teen.

He looked at the sword: grey, dull, carved of stone, a blade engraved with runes from long ago; it was a weapon this boy should not possess. Not at his age if at all, especially with his lack of either muscle or skill. Still he handed it to 'him' before flying across to aid Haako who had finally passed out and was likely to be dispatched by the next shot.

"We will talk later boy!" He called after him. What were his parent's doing letting him run around Midgard unattended? How did he get here? What was that weapon and where did it come from? There was much talk to be had after the songs of victory. He slew three aliens that had not had time to even consider his approach and looked back to watch her electrocute one Eric had just stunned with a fearsome ax-kick. Maybe he wasn't unattended, perhaps that was his father? Lightning! "We will talk boy!" He roared into the blizzard's wrath.

"Storm MAIDEN!" She screamed back, "I' a fucking WOMAN!" with her voice as twisted and pitchy as always was almost lost to the storm. She impaled and fried another alien distracted by Eric's colourful defensive gesticulations. Thor considered every Asgardian woman he had ever seen, they all had curves. None were the flat skinny waif that she was, she was no woman she was a girl, but he acknowledged some of what she had screamed at him; at Thor son of Odin.

"We will talk later then _maiden_?" He responded, just as loud as before but with a softer timbre.

'What's happening Brain? With Thor's help we will be done here very soon?' Ella thought openly hoping not just the coordinating Belgian Brain, but everyone would pick up her thoughts and report back; but they were too well trained to clutter each other's minds with confusing chatter.

'Thor?' The Brain responded but was quick to resettle himself and explain the tactical position. 'The central area has been cleared, the Danish Valkyrie has re-joined team two and the Finish one has joined team one who seem to be having the worst of it. The woodland they're fighting in gives them some cover but also stops Quinjet 2 being useful at all. If you're free help them out.'

'If that Quinjet's available; Haako's down in need of medical attention?' Eric asked.

'Roger that Eric. You guys should really get some useful codenames like SM' The Brain acknowledged.

'SM?' mused Eric 'Oh Storm maiden. For a second there I thought that was a sado-masochist reference and she's hardly that, well not the masochist bit anyhow.'

'Keep your mind clear of idle chatter please.' The Brain insisted.

'Roger that.' Eric replied.

"I'm not certain about Storm maiden" Ella stated ignoring what had just been asked, assuming it was meant for Eric rather than her. She decapitated an alien who fell spraying her with blood. Smiling she licked the warm, salty spray from her lips. Eric stepped in grabbing the head of his last opponent. Although stunned this creatures training tried to force him to his feet. Eric twisted the head almost 360 degrees with a sudden movement and was disappointed he only felt the neck break and cord tear.

"I like it. It does what it says on the tin." He stated pointing into the falling snow "That way about 800 meters, stay close we work much better together than individually." They began running and she held back, she was a much faster than Eric the poor muscle bound heavy man. 'How the hell have Gunnar and Tricolore survived longer than us anyhow?' He thought, he couldn't speak and run flat out despite the Brain's request for silent thoughts, 'If that theory about them being our prototypes is right, how come they're doing so well?'

'I guess it's down to training, they've been at it much longer than us and we've only just found out we need each other.' Ella theorised as her shield slammed into Eric sending them toppling to the ground in opposite directions as an unseen heavy weapon round passed between them. They looked at each other and without a word or even thought ran in opposite directions, instantly becoming individuals once more as a blue red blur travelled between them to take on the heavy weapon.

The Brain directed her through the blizzard to Tricolore, held defenceless on the floor as she had been not so long before. She quickened her pace and used her velocity, muscle, sword and element of surprise to decapitate her rider before leaping into the concealing snow and up.

"Jambes!" Tricolore shouted into the storm. The Brain did not translate the word, he had to be busy with something else thought Ella but no problem. She had been a ski instructor and chalet girl; she had seen enough jambes broken by beginners who thought they would skip the red and go straight to black to recognise the word. She dropped from height between the two that had her jambes so tightly pinned in the snow. Using the fall and her own mass, even though it was no more than that of a normal man, skewered one through the back, narrowly missing Tricolore's jambe as the blade protruded through his chest armour on the other side.

Tricolor's freed leg made a high arc over Ella before her heel slammed into the back of the other leg holders head. He was already off balance, his centre of gravity too far forward, using his mass to pin her leg down and so toppled forward face first into her crotch. The Frenchwoman somehow spun her body from the ground so she was sat on his face whilst she shot first one then the other of the aliens that had been holding her arms in their unvisored faces with one of their own weapons. She was fast, very fast; Ella marvelled at her speed whilst she lowered the gun and blasted the face she had so ably mounted.

"Les frapper dans le visage, sa non protégés." She stated looking at Ella.

'Brain what did she say?' Ella asked as Tricolore dismounted the exploded face and run towards the sound of heavy weapons fire.

'Hit them in their unprotected faces, is a rough translation. It seems that is an unexpected advantage we have; snow covering their visors has forced them to not deploy them.'

'Oh like I've got the skills to do that!' Ella was a little annoyed at her French forerunner, if that was what she really was. Ella was new to this; she'd had no training, was nowhere near as fast as the woman and was very, very hungry. She reached down into the creatures exploded face wrenched off the front of its skull and sinking her fingers into its brain pulled out a chuck. It would have to do until the Singapore noodles arrived.

She trudged after Tricolore in the thick, fresh snow until she remembered she could fly then ascended into the pines hoping to see how best to approach the next encounter but it was a virtual white-out 'guess I'm going in blind unless I get some direction?' she pondered.

"Here!" Screamed Eric his voice implying he was already experiencing considerable pain. Then a seemingly untargeted spray of bolts screamed through the whiteout. Brilliant bolts of red light vaporised the falling flakes. The gap between bolts so small that they formed almost a continuous beam of death, seeking to cut in two anything it encountered. Several trees were so weakened they: creaked, twisted, broke and fell. The aliens had their own Gatling. "Ugfh! Arrgh!" screamed Eric then as he had no more breath with which to cry out in desperation and suffering 'Man down actually two men and a woman' he thought.

Ella gauged the bolts origin as it continued to spit death across the snow laden forest. She did not hesitate to fly straight at it, as fast as she could, yet still slowly. Before she got to the Gatling it and its user was gone. All that remained was its two man guard; too shocked their charges speedy departure to respond to her imminent arrival. Mjölnir flew back between them and she was instantly glad she was not so fast as to be in its path. There was little gunfire now, not surprising as there were few combatants left and those that there were had targets lost in the snow.

Tricolore was suddenly by her side kneeing one of the guards in the genitals. He buckled forward as she switched legs slamming her other knee into his unvisored face. His head exploded back into her hands with such force she had difficulty catching hold of it. She pile drove his already broken face into the snow with the full weight of her deliberately falling body. Drawing his combat blade she slammed it into the back of his neck. Ella watched it all as she raised her sword ready to strike the other but he had already run into the snow. His parting shot deflected off Ella's shield into Tricolore's face causing her a deep bloody wound. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and she collapsed falling atop her victim.

'Another woman down!' She informed the Brain and anyone else that was listening in.

'Magma's down here but the aliens have retreated beyond my ability to cognise them which leaves the Danish Valkyrie, Interface & I free if you still have opposition?' Oracle informed everyone but as much as Ella listened there was no sound of alien gunfire only the zarking of repulsors' and striking of Mjölnir against their armour.


	12. Chapter 12: Conversations in the snow

An hour after the Tricolore had fallen, Quinjet 2 was rushing: her, Eric, Haako, Magma, Gunnar and the Red dragon back to F.I.R.E. for medical attention. Ironman bedecked in his mk 39 Gemini armour had joined the two Valkyries in 'mopping up' the alien excavators. The others stood in the back of the other Quinjet parked where the alien encampment had been.

"When did Ironman turn up? Why did Ironman turn up?" Ella asked.

'Apparently the Avenger's received a call from F.I.R.E. It appears Mäkelä didn't think we would be up to the task,' The Brain stated 'but they didn't call Thor in?'

"Heimdall became aware of a group of Asgardians on Midguard. Odin has directed me to find out just who they are and what they are doing here? It seems I arrived at an opportune moment?" Thor established. The Brain didn't translate but somehow everyone left to hear understood, but was surprised Thor had understood his thoughts from outside the link.

"Actually what the hell is F.I.R.E? What does it even stand for? They didn't seem too nice a group until you turned up." Ella asked the brain, then turning to Thor she continued "And I'm human _not_ Asgardian, I'm just a dumb checkout girl with dreams of being a super hero that agreed to having a bunch of dwarves do experimental surgery on her." Thor and the Brain looked at each other; but the Brain was incapable of looking surprised by her outburst.

'I'll go first, it's easier. F.I.R.E. stands for Finnish Intelligence Research Establishment they're supposed to be a signals unit but they're more a secret service that houses the Finish Valkyrie amongst other things. They probably weren't nice due to your involvement with human traffickers and terrorist organisations. I know neither of you had any knowledge of what you were doing. You are quite an interesting and intriguing read but your part is very simple. The puppet masters though?' The Brain seemed to pause but then said nothing more.

"Whatever the dwarves did to you, Heimdall now sees you and your injured friends as Asgardians and I trust his sight. You have been changed in some way to be of my race perhaps he would not notice one or two hiding on Midguard amongst all these souls. Why would he even look? But five of you together like this. I need to know why new Asgardians are being created on Midguard. What is your purpose?" Thor demanded.

"Generally I pass goods in front of a barcode scanner, it goes beep and I tell people how much they owe." Ella replied curtly.

"I am in no mood for humour girl!" Thor virtually exploded. These new Asgardians or at least this one were not giving him the respect he expected.

'It wasn't humour;' The Brain explained 'she really is that stupid.'

"Oh I'm sorry" Thor stated softly and genuinely apologetic. She found it difficult to believe that Thor was apologising to her because she was thick. "So what precisely did the dwarves do to you and where did you get that sword you wield so.." He would have to be patient with this one, it was a great shame those with more intellect had been injured, "curiously?" Ella told her story again, Thor nodded politely at the appropriate points, whilst Oracle and Interface investigated the dig; hand in hand. The Brain was incapable of looking bored.

When she was done Thor held out his hand towards her shield "May I?" She eagerly passed it to him like a schoolgirl handing over a well worked assignment she had prepared for her favourite teacher. "Mithril. This is finely worked, if not made by the dwarves of Nidavellir it is a good forgery."

"Is that good?" Ella asked. Thor looked at her perplex by her complete ignorance.

"Yes. Yes it is a good. The mail too seems Mithril" he stated placing his hand on her shoulder. A seem appeared down the centre at the rear and nimbly she stepped backwards out of it slipping it off like a snake shedding its skin in a single piece. Thor gripped the mail so it did not fall as she stood before him and the Brain in torn and burnt undergarments that left little to the imagination. "I see you are a woman now." Stated Thor with humour in his voice, almost a little laugh that bordered on sarcastic, but you should not be fighting Badoon in your condition." She looked down past her flat chest to the little pot belly beneath.

"Oh I'm not pregnant. That's Loviatar, the organ the dwarves gave me." She informed Thor, she had forgotten the Brain was even in the room.

"The dwarves I know are: craftsmen, smiths and farmers they do not fashion organs out of flesh or do surgery like that you have spoken of." Thor informed her.

"Then I guess my dwarves were not the dwarves you know?" She nodded in agreement.

"and they would not have given an Uru weapon to one so poorly trained. It is strange I do not recognise it."

"I guess it is kind of small." She stated looking at his hammer. "What about all the stuff the boys got: Eric's pill, Haako's potion and the things inside Donald?"

"They don't do drugs either." Thor stated.

"They don't _do_ drugs?" Ella asked seeking confirmation of something that had been so prevalent throughout her life although she herself had only rarely taken part.

"No I meant they don't manufacture magical pills and potions, dwarves as a species smoke and drink, it is common for almost all races to drink especially in celebration." Thor explained a little shocked and unsettled by the underlying question. "But we shouldn't be seen to after all we are heroes and should stand as an example to all."

"Oh" she sighed "Eric's not going to be keen on that."

'Thor hit this last few feet of rock with that thing of yours.' Oracle demanded from quite far away.

'I am used to being asked.' Thor thought through the Brains newly acquired mind link.

'Sorry,' She stated acting contrite 'I already did and you complied, so I know you will, but that was in a reality that hasn't taken place yet. It gets confusing and I will be annoyed by not being able to perceive past the door beyond into what has been buried here. That future frustration led me to be a bit demanding in this current reality.' Ella stepped back into the mail Thor was holding for her like a towel for a child getting out of the bath. It sealed around her once more and they walked down the ramp into what was now a light snow towards the stairs that led down into what seemed to be a natural hole in the frozen land.

The Brain sat alone in the Quinjet until one of the pilots came back and started setting up a chessboard. 'Beats playing with myself.' He thanked the pilot.

'I don't know?' Stated Eric, who had clearly regained consciousness somewhere.

On the way to meet Oracle and Interface Ella found her abandoned motorcycle.

"This is where the dwarves did me!" She stated excited to be back "The Bad-moons must have been trying to salvage their ship."

"Badoon." Thor corrected "And it is good this is the place; hopefully it will clear up this mystery?" The pair followed the newly hewn slanting path into the darkness of the frozen rock "I don't suppose you have a torch?" he asked her and she glowed brightly, happy to be of use to the GOD of thunder. They met the others just before the passage levelled out.

'You throw the hammer down there about three foot from the ground and level. It breaks the last few feet of rock away that conceals the door. The aliens were very close.' Oracle informed Thor.

"Stand back!" He instructed starting to whirl Mjölnir.

"We already are, that's why we're stood here, the furthest fragment lands here." Oracle stated pointing to a vague point of indiscriminate passage floor as Thor released his hammer. There was a fearful impact somewhere up ahead as Mjölnir returned to Thor's grasp. A few moments latter a lump of rock rolled to where Oracle had been pointing. She smiled.

The door beyond the rock seemed to have no mechanism to open it but did as they approached none the less. "I probably did that." Ella stated congratulating herself in what seemed to have become a contest of abilities. They searched the dark unpowered vessel which had clearly been cleared out and abandoned. "Where have they gone?" They searched room after room but nothing had been left behind, anything of value or import was gone, even the operating theatre didn't have a single tool or piece of equipment left; those that were part of the table had been removed leaving just a few lose wires that went nowhere.

Eventually they found an odd portal surrounded by what were once intricate devices but explosives had done their work. Unlike other places though the wreckage still remained. Oracle approached and touched the burnt wall then walked back away from it. Each step took her further back in time.

"This is how they left." She explained "They carried everything through the portal to another place then rigged it with explosives before leaving. Seven dwarves; the last a prisoner in chains looking very unhappy for himself."

"Can you tell me anymore about them? Who they were and who they were working for mayhap?" Thor asked.

"I'll wander around and see if I can find any notable psychic impressions but it's unlikely." She stated holding her hands out in-front of her she began to caress the air whilst Interface followed with the lantern they at least had been sufficiently incisive to bring. Thor and Ella returned to the Quinjet where the powered suit wearers now were.

"If you won't let me examine the suit how am I supposed to fix the problem?" Tony demanded.

"I just thought that having designed so many you may have had similar issues at some point and could just tell me." The Finnish Valkyrie stated "I can't let you actually look at it, I'm pretty certain you don't have the appropriate clearance."

"Appropriate clearance? Whose repulsor technology are you using anyhow? You do know I hold the copyright on that don't you?" The powered armour he addressed was incapable of blushing with embarrassment but the body language gave it away. "Anyhow why Iron-girls?"

"Power to weight ratio." The Danish Valkyrie explained.

"Should we be telling him that?" The Finnish Valkyrie rebuked.

"He's a fucking genius." The Dane explained "He's probably worked it out already."

"By that I take it that whatever technology you use for flight isn't very efficient and would struggle to lift a fully grown man?"

"No it's perfectly efficient but having to share energy between: force fields, flight, weapons and physical strength enhancers. The trade-off for having a bigger, stronger, male pilot didn't really work." The Dane reviled.

"Why didn't you just stick to the 'It's called Valkyrie so it had to be a female pilot' official line?" The Fin asserted knowing what her answer would be.

"He's a fucking genius." The Dane was clearly enamoured by Stark's intellect and P.R.

"So let me get this right. When you split power between your sub-systems everything works like it should but if you put one hundred percent into a single system the effect is more like a hundred and forty with the associated drain on your power reserves?" Tony summarised.

"No the effect is around one forty or more but the power drain is about one twenty." The Dane corrected.

"I'm going to scout for more aliens." The Fin stated throwing up her arms despairingly as she walked out.

"Free energy" remarked Tony "So what's the problem?"

"It doesn't make sense, I don't like it when things don't make sense."

"and I really can't suggest anything without actually looking at the systems involved. By the way what do you use for power and propulsion?" Tony queried.

"I'm not an engineer, just a pilot, but I think propulsion is Guassian and the reactor came from Estonia. Dr Brahe brought it but although it works all the other scientists and engineers say his explanations' of it are highly flawed. It works though so they used it anyhow, even if it's creator couldn't adequately explain its functionality." The Dane responded.

"You really do speak English very well." Tony complimented.

"Thanks" She replied "Hvordan er din Dannish?"

"Dårlig. Oh hi Thor how goes it in Asgard? Don't tell me Odin's made you take a side-kick?" Tony replied doing little more than glance at Ella.

It took a while for everyone to catch up but eventually they did just in time for a worried Oracle to return.

"Well was there anything?" Thor asked her.

"I have to speak to Storm maiden first" Oracle stated, clearly there was something but it must be personal to her. She beckoned her outside where now tiny shards of ice fell slowly, floating down almost vertically in the night with the aurora shimmering through the branches above them.

"What?" asked Ella concerned, worried there was something that she needed to tell her and could not share with the group.

"The dwarf prisoner" Oracle begun "was a prisoner because, after your disembowelment and implantation, when the Surgeon and the Doctor had left him to close and you were still unconscious on the table he.." She paused and Ebba couldn't discern if it was for dramatic effect or because she was really struggling to reveal the truth to her "He raped you."

"Oh" said Ella. She had no idea how else she was supposed to respond.

"From what I can make out they made him write a letter of apology and their going to enslave him to the trolls; if that helps?" Oracle asked knowing full-well that it didn't. Ella thought back through the last few weeks of her life, a time when everything had changed but somehow stayed the same; 'Sorry I was curious.' That was a letter of apology? He hadn't even signed it! She considered if 'Sorry I was fucking curious. Love and kisses scrub nurse dwarf.' would have been any better?

'Sorry to hear your thoughts. I have severed all connections from me to others so your privacy with respect to S.H.E. is assured but you are still sending your thoughts to those in your personal mind link. See you inside when you're ready.' The Brain quickly explained before removing his mind from hers. Oracle prophesied the results of asking if she needed a hug and went inside without asking after all there weren't any living Badoon around for her to slaughter and that is what she was going to ask for. She wasn't ready but she went in anyhow, there was nothing that could be done about it now and she didn't want to miss out on any other revelations Oracle may have, just in case they too related to her.

Oracle was not surprised to see her, she had been waiting, and knowing she wouldn't be long it seemed polite even if she wouldn't hear much of what was said.


	13. Chapter 13: Asgard

"Well?" asked Thor "what did you find out?"

"From what I can determine the craft itself crashed here over two millennia ago and the original occupants died in the incident, I'm not certain but I think they were small and green, there was a lot of purple too and an all pervasive feeling of deception." Oracle began.

"Skrulls." Ella stated looking at no one, talking to herself.

"Aye, indeed they could be skrulls. They are a generally quite short race, especially if they choose to be, so the internal heights would be right." Thor confirmed adding weight to his new compatriot's view. "And it seems the skrulls are involved in some of this more recently, although I doubt anyone would try and construct a plan that spanned millennia."

"Anyhow" Oracle continued "It lay here for many years completely undiscovered and untended eventually becoming buried by glaciers, running water and deposited rock. When the Asgardians came they were aware of it but did nothing apart from build an outpost right by it. Perhaps they came in response to an ancient distress call which they deactivated?" Everyone look at Thor.

"I know nothing of this. It was a long time ago." He realised his answer sounded more like a defence of himself and his people. "But there may be record of it in Asgard. I will ask the librarians when I return."

'So it's just sat here waiting for millennia?' The Brain asked.

"Not entirely. It seems it was accessed by a teleporter in the early 1700's who seemed to be human but did little more than take some components out of a large device that was latter disassembled by the dwarves when they cleared it out leaving just the shell. The dwarves didn't seem concerned about the missing just perplexed." Oracle concluded.

"Where did the Dwarves come from and where did they go?" Ella asked with perhaps more malice in her voice than curiosity.

"That's really unclear they were just: suddenly here, built a dimensional gateway, did you and left taking everything and destroying the gateway as they left."

"Did me!" Ella shouted totally astounded by Oracles lack of compassion.

'Sorry that's my fault' apologised the Brain 'I oversimplified the whole transplant, genetic modification thing in the translation for you, not the others; you used that verb yourself not long ago.'

"Get out of my fucking head!" She screamed at his glass jar and left as abruptly as the Quinjet's slowly lowering ramp would let her. Again she forgot she could have fled much sooner had she flown through the opening gap. Everyone stood stunned for a while before Interface turned to Oracle.

"Maybe you should go after her?"

"Why me?"

"You're a girl."

"I'm a woman and I've never been raped, let alone by a dwarf whilst I was unconscious on an operating table with my guts ripped out." She stated it was an emotional outburst that for her seemed ill considered but she really didn't want to be the one to console her, she knew she wouldn't do a good job. The concept of spawning realities to save the emotional well-being of someone she barely knew seemed out of place. The others she knew needed to know about the rape to make sense of everything, it was a secret that would come out soon anyhow; sooner made little difference other than to begin establishing a friendship that Ella needed.

"Maybe I should?" Hesitated Thor looking for guidance from Oracle, but then the Finnish Valkyrie pursued Ella into the aurora lit night and softly settling snow, closing the ramp behind her as she passed.

"It's fine Thor, Ilona has it covered." Oracle told him then turned to the Brain but it was too late he'd already thought.

'Poor girl' he'd seen her memories 'It's not the first time.' Everyone shuffled uneasily in the confines of the Quinjet not knowing what to say or do except for Tony.

"Hell I'm gonna see if I can't find some living aliens. They may have a clue we could use to work things out." The others left at the same time leaving the Brain in the Quinjet with its crew. He had read deeply into the minds of all the Badoon, he knew they were just the goons of some outside agency and had no idea who that was or what was their role in its plans, but he didn't let on. He understood everyone needed some space now.

'Knight takes king's bishop check.' The pilot came back and moved the pieces then stared at the board.

'Brain' demanded Ilona 'What's her real name? I can't run after her shouting Storm maiden it's not appropriate.'

'Ella.'

"Ella wait up!" Her voice echoed off the frozen pines and snow shook from their branches. Ella watched her approach and considered if she wanted company or would rather be alone with her thoughts. She decided on the safer option.

"Up here!" She called down glowing in the darkness. Ilona looked up into the branches of a huge deciduous tree to see Ella perched on a huge naked limb.

"Mind if I join you?" Ilona asked raising her visor. She stared up at her with sapphire eyes shining in Ella's glow. Ella opened her arms then patted the branch beside her. Ilona jumped into the air and flew to the branch beside her.

"You'll be better company than the squirrel I hope?"

"What squirrel?"

"The one you just sat on." Ilona flew up a foot and turned to inspect her seat but nothing was there. "Sorry I don't know why I did that." She really didn't but Ilona did, she was distracting herself; she would do anything to avoid thinking about it.

"Is this an oak?"

"Do I look like a botanist?" Ella questioned trying to sound annoyed whilst stifling a laugh.

"Do they have a look?"

"I imagine they wear tweed, thick rimmed glasses and have their hair up."

"That's a librarian. I look nothing like a librarian, hell I don't even have hair at the minute." There was an awkward pause.

"Is that a snake?" Ilona asked pointing up to the branch above them with its thick parasitic shrub.

"No it can't be" stated Ella without even looking, "it's far too cold this far north and they don't climb trees."

"What is it then?" She persisted. Ella looked up into the mistletoe. It was probably only half a meter long and no more than five centimetres in diameter but the thick fur made it difficult to gauge.

"I haven't a clue, but even I know reptiles don't have fur. Maybe the aliens brought it, some pet or something." It wasn't moving and it didn't look threatening so the young women ignored it and carried on talking about nothing until the sun finally rose.

"Ladies!" Called up Thor from the ground beneath them, they were so tired they hadn't even noticed him approach or the serpents decent. "There are more transports here and many men labouring to take your toils back for detailed scrutiny. I think they are expecting you to join them and return to your injured friends." Ella realised Ilona had collapsed onto her and she wondered why she had remained quite so stable. The bough was indeed wide but it was odd she was so rigid yet yielding to Ilona's drowsy form. She stroked her face gently, slowly waking her then carefully and deliberately kissed her slumbering lips. She instantly recoiled from her own action and was grateful Ilona hadn't seemed to have noticed. A berry fell from the bush above them and struck Ilona in her slowly opening eye. Ella steadied her and the pair slowly descended to the ground.

"It is my intent to take you to Asgard soon so you can be examined in more detail and trained to use your weapons with more skill if you are willing?" he informed her.

"Wow! Bring it on big boy!" Ella exploded excitedly despite a night of little sleep.

"Do you not want to see your friends first? And please call me Thor." She held up her hand as if to stop him whilst she concentrated on finishing a text. "You really will need to be more respectful" he stated. It was as if she were an annoying naughty child he was taking to a family party and knew her wayward behaviour would reflect badly on him.

'Eric, Haako, Donald? Are you guys' all right?'

'Thanks for asking but were fine if you want to go to Asgard. Jealous but fine.' Donald replied.

'You may be fine where ever you are but I've been shot so many times I'm lucky to be alive; thanks for asking.' Haako commented.

'She was busy. Did you like it?' Eric asked 'but I'm not certain you really should be the new Asgardian ambassador.'

'Ambassador? Do you think I'll get a big cone of Ferrero Roche and a car with flags on it and what did you mean did I like it?'

'I think you'll get a full on banquette, probably have a horse to ride, without a flag and I was referring to the girl kiss.' Eric replied 'and see if you can't get some decent boots.'

"I'm good to go whenever you are sooner the better." She told Thor as she stood on his boots and wrapped her arms around him, she could see he looked uncomfortable "Remember when Superman played by Christopher Reeve takes Louis Lane flying in the first movie?"

"No, no I don't." Said Thor as she hugged him tighter. He raised Mjölnir, his chest swelled above her grasp, he was about to speak.

"Heimdall! Two to beam up!" She whispered and the Bifröst came. Thor was happy his ally was watching him but wished he had not responded to _her_ request.

In the hemispherical vestibule Heimdall approached the pair "It is a nice Linnormr but I do not think it is your pet?" She looked at Heimdall strangely but did not loosen her grip on Thor.

"You can dismount now, were here." Thor stated parting his legs slightly as he carefully grabbed the serpent behind its head and gently lifted it from around her neck. "Did you mean to bring this?" He shook the unresponsive reptile still too cold from its time waiting in the tree, it never wanted to be symbolic but like Eve it didn't get a choice. Ella said nothing; she was standing on Thor's boots on a different world. Moments ago she had been standing by a solitary naked tree in an evergreen forest in Lapland; now she was standing in a golden dome looking out at the stars, not the stars at night but actual swirly galaxy things that seemed almost close enough to touch.

"What! Not another one?" There were four others in the room. Heimdall had already spoken, he had complimented her Linnormr. She wasn't certain what a Linnormr was but it was nice to get a compliment, she didn't get many she knew why; she was fat. The woman, the only one, had just spoken and seemed very abrupt and harsh, she stared at her with cold eyes. The other two men looked at her with enquiring if not interested gaze but this woman was coldly confrontational. "At least you didn't bring the pretty one."

"All the others were injured, this was his only choice." Heimdall stated condescendingly as if she were not even in the room. Ella released her grip on Thor and stepped off of him. She wasn't certain what she was using some new enhanced perception or just normal 'girl sense' but she felt the other woman become less tense, she had intended giving as good as she was getting but decided against it not wanting to give cause for her to recover her animosity. Although none too bright she did at least understand this woman was jealous of her. She stood in the awkward silence not knowing how she was supposed to initiate a conversation with gods.

"These are my friends: Heimdall, Fandral, Volstagg and" Thor began.

"Sif. Maiden warrior of Asgard and of true Asgardian blood." Sif stated introducing herself, for want Thor or any man would do it for her. There was another awkward silence that was broken by something inside her as it rumbled its discontent.

"Are you hungry?" Volstagg asked. Ella wasn't certain if he was talking to her or her stomach.

"Ella. Checkout girl of Aldi of human heritage, afflicted with Asgardian gene therapy. And yes Volstagg I am hungry, very hungry. I ordered an extra hot Singapore noodles, pancake roll and sweet and sour source about two days ago but right now anything will do. Take me to your golden arches."

"There is no food at the golden arch?" Volstagg questioned. Ella walked over to him and took him by the arm hoping that by distancing herself from Thor Sif would become less confrontational.

"Take me to where you eat." She said placing her free hand on his ample abdomen.

"Thor?" He asked.

"Yes go and sate her hunger. I must speak to the all father about what I have discovered so far but Ella could you lend Fandral your blade so he can research its nature and origin whilst you eat. Heimdall will keep an eye on the others and Sif will prepare a training regimen for you."

"I will what?" Sif responded with barely repressed animosity towards the scrawny newcomer. "She is no more than a child, there is so little of her there is nothing to train."

"Never the less you will do it." Thor told her as Ella passed her sword to Fandral.

"Yes, never the less, I will."


	14. Chapter 14: Honey

"So explain to me exactly what we're doing?" Eric asked Dr Chan as he sat in the virtually empty room at F.I.R.E. A desk and two chairs, his facing the door and the other a few feet the other side opposite him, nothing else apart from the large mirror on one wall, obviously for two way viewing from a room beyond.

"Were going to find out exactly what happens to women when they encounter you. The intent is to find out exactly what the issue you say you have is; if it exists at all? I mean I find you attractive. I'm certain most women do. You probably wouldn't have to try too hard to seduce me but I'm hardly going to jump the table and mount you; which you say is the case with most women. We need to know exactly who is susceptible so you can avoid them. We have twenty subjects to test today if you're ready?"

"What do I do?" Eric asked.

"Sit there and try to avoid coitus with anyone. Each of the subjects will be accompanied by a couple of male agents who will restrain them if necessary." Eric shuffled in his seat uncomfortably as Chan left.

Of the twenty subjects only five didn't make a move on him. Only one was so fixated by the thought of having him inside her she became violent injuring the agents and when she did reinforcements charged in restrained and tranquilised her. It was a shame she was the best looking of them all. Chan came in and sat opposite him for the debrief.

"Well?" Eric asked.

"Only those capable of successfully mating with you were affected. Those: past menopause, too young to have begun ovulating or post hysterectomy were completely unaffected. Those with mental resistance training also seem capable of being in the same room as you. We'll check on intellect issues tomorrow as I'm still not under your spell and I'm both fertile and have had no such training."

"Well I'm grateful kids and grannies are immune."

"I need a semen sample as well if you wouldn't mind?"

"I must admit I am feeling a little frustrated by today's test."

"I can tell" she stated looking directly at his bulge.

"Well?" he asked holding out his open hand "Have you got a tube or something?" Dr Chan stood up and walked to his side of the table. She stood in front of him close, too close then turned away bending over the table and parting her legs. The smell of her wet sex beneath her short skirt met his nose.

"I have something Eric. Now hurry up and fill it!"

In the infirmary Haako asked with all the incredulity he could muster "I change into a bear?" it wasn't false scepticism either he had little memory of the Badoon battle. He lay in a communal ward with the others who had been far more damaged than Eric.

"That's what I was told sir" answered the nurse "They think you change if you get angry or hurt but they don't really know. They just said keep you happy but that's my job anyway. Do you need a bed pan or anything?"

"What kind of bear?" Haako asked.

"No one here saw only: Eric, Storm Maiden and Thor I'm afraid?" Replied Magma, only he and the nurse had an understanding of Finnish and the Brain wasn't around.

'Ella, Eric! What kind of bear do I turn into?'

'I'm a bit busy right now.' Eric thought as he withdrew his twitching shaft, turned Chan over whilst his hands began fondling her breasts and twisting her erect nipples he impaled her again.

'It wasn't a normal bear.' Ella replied 'I don't think it was native.'

'So not a brown bear?' Haako asked, he was pretty certain they were native to Finland, not that he'd ever seen one.

'No definitely not brown, more golden really and a good three and half if not four meters long.' Ella replied.

'Eric. Are there any golden bears, three and a bit meter's long native to Finland?' Haako asked.

'Look guy's I'm really busy and not at all in the mood for a discussion about Earth's natural Ursidae but no there's nothing on Earth like you were Haako.' Dr Chan had turned from a: prim, principled and proper physician into a moaning slut begging him to stop what she had started. Her legs had been shaking uncontrollably for several minutes now and now the rest of her flushed body was beginning to follow their example.

'Eric. What do bears eat?' Haako asked wondering if he should try and accommodate his 'dark side' by at least feeding it.

'Roots, insects, mammals and' He stopped mid thought as he erupted into her. He withdrew almost completely thinking that she wanted a sample and it would be easier for her to harvest from her skin than. Then thrust it back to complete the uncontrollable transfer. 'honey!"

"Any chance of some toast and honey?" Haako asked the nurse.

"Fucking hell you know how to fuck." Dr Chan gasped as he withdrew releasing her legs so they dangled uncomfortably over the table's edge. He lied that he'd never had any complaints but not anymore he was certain of that he was a new man. He helped her to her feet. She could neither stand nor walk unaided. She lowered herself to the floor holding the table leg tightly as she tried to control her breathing and heart. He was struggling to dress, his wet organ still hugely swollen. "Help me to my lab I need to analyse this." It was good to know that she really did need a sample and had not just succumbed to his unwanted ability.

"Have you tried ribs glazed with Bourbon and honey?" Ella asked Volstagg.

"No but is this not the best boar you have ever tasted, I strangled it myself three days ago. We have good hunting here on Asgard." Ella could do nothing but agree having never tasted boar before, Asgardian or not.

"How about bears?"

"They do not make good eating." Volstagg stated abruptly but then he was intrigued "What about Midgard bears how do they taste and what of those Singapore noodles you talk of? What manner of food are they?"

"No I was asking what the bears on Asgard are like?" Ella confirmed.

"I have a big one stuffed in my home if you would like to see it?"

"You'll need to ply me with more mead if you think that lines going to work." She laughed picking up a small fowl and tearing the flesh from it with her teeth. Volstagg said nothing but reaching across the table refilled her jug with mead.

"Any idea why he changed?" It was the director's voice and he was no longer in the ward surrounded by recovering heroes he was in a cage, a woefully misshapen one at that. The bars were stretched, prised apart; he was easily able to pass through the gaps that had been made.

"Director." Acknowledged a subordinate scientist pointing at Haako.

"OK; any idea why he changed back?"

"His stats were all fine. He'd just had two slices of toast with honey." His nurse informed him.

"So we feed the man honey and he turns into a bear? If he asks for Krill no one, I mean no one, give him them on toast or otherwise." The director turned to Haako "Good morning man-bear, any idea what happened?"

"Sorry I don't remember a thing and I'm really not happy with Man-bear, have you got a PR team or what?" Haako said "I'm happy to down some honey though if you've got another cage?" They did and there was no harm in seeing if honey was a trigger but it wasn't this time he ate a third of a jar and felt nothing other than nausea.

Tony and Birgit, the Danish Valkyrie pilot, stood looking into the shell of her armour him in jeans and a t-shirt she in a skin tight black jump suit covered in tiny metallic contacts.

"So this is the reactor?" Tony asked pointing at something in the abdomen, something he had already removed a cover that had clear 'Danger! Do not remove this housing!' labelling attached.

"Yes and that's the.."

"Power distributor" Tony interrupted keen to show he had a good grasp of the suits form and function. "I can see but I wouldn't have put it there; that's got to be uncomfortable?"

"It can get a bit warm sometimes." Birgit confirmed.

"Well" he stated as he tinkered with a jeweller's screwdriver and multi-meter "I think I've found your problem. When you call for all the power to go to one system the distributor creates feedback which it sends to the reactor boosting its capacity. It's easily fixed with a feedback inhibitor but that does mean you won't get the plus forty anymore?"

"If it's just going to reduce the suits capability then just leave it be. I guess that's what the designers had in mind but just hadn't told us pilots." Birgit proposed.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it?" Tony questioned "But", there was always a 'but', "Increasing the capacity not only reduces the reactors containment but also has a good chance of burning out some of the systems that haven't been designed to take a hundred and forty percent power surge," He moved rapidly within the confines of the opened suit with the multi-meter, "that's everything! I can't believe they put this thing together without at least a plus fifty compliance on everything, especially if they knew about the feedback." He noticed his own suit judder slightly. "So how long does it take you to put this on?"

"About ten minutes with two assistants."

"Are you the only trained pilot?"

"For this suit at the moment yes but the Danish government is training up two more and investing in control suits for them. At least then I'll get some time off like the Swedish pilots."

"How many suits do the Swedes have then?" Tony fished.

"There are only three suits: Sweden, Denmark and Finland. The Swedes had theirs first and they have ten trained pilots so they all have a life not like me and Ilona. We are pretty much permanently suited so we can reduce the suiting time and quicken our response."

"Well I'll cover for you whilst you go take a shower if you want _Honey_."

"Honey?" Birgit responded perplexed by his sudden over familiarity. The suit moved again, just slightly.

"You're under suit?" Tony asked "Do all the contacts have a purpose or are some just ornamental?"

"We call it a control suit. Why do you ask?"

"I couldn't help noticing your nipples." His suit twitched, a bigger one this time, it was audible. Birgit blushed. Tony Stark was flirting with her? She didn't know if she should feel flattered but she did.

"OK" she said coyly "What will you be doing?" She turned her back to him "Can you help me with the zip?" His suit began to walk towards them.

"It's OK _Honey_ I'll help her with that." It was Pepper's voice.

"Is that an AI?" Birgit asked shocked by the approaching pilot-less armour.

"No" replied Tony.

"I'm his fiancé!" The suit stated in a menacing tone "and you're needed back at the tower." She told him.

"I guess I'll take a rain check on the shower." Birgit stated disappointed. Tony's suit was already disassembling itself and reassembling around him.

"I wouldn't if I were you." Tony replied more to reassure Pepper than to comment on Birgit's personal hygiene. "and I'd have your people consider a feedback inhibitor, feedback can get quite loopy and I'd hate to think what would happen if your reactor lost containment." He took a last look at the reactor as he reattached the housing. "What do you make of that Friday?" He whispered into the helmets mic.

"I don't sir." The suits AI responded.

"Pepper can you send me anything we have on the Valkyrie project especially the reactor. They're employing repulsor technology as part of the weaponry so we should have something." He asked as he left F.I.R.E. hurriedly with a man chasing after him with a book and pen. "It's going to take a couple of hours to get back to New York. What was I reading on the way here Friday?"

"Sir!" The man was in front of him on the path pushing the book and pen at him. "Sir you need to sign out."

"No I don't." Tony stated "I didn't sign in." Then he was gone.

She woke fully aware that although it a comfortable bed she was under close guard. She hadn't slept or eaten for so long the mead had gone straight to her head which now ached. She could feel the mail against her skin, it completely enclosed her apart from her hands and head at least she knew she hadn't been abused again. "Morning _Storm maiden_!" It was Sif, her voice as cold as always.

"Morning" She all but grunted "What is the time?"

"Almost irrelevant." Stated Sif "You do realise that as an Asgardian you will live for,"She paused not knowing the answer as she had no real need of it "a long time."

"What like a thousand years or something! Shit how many kids do you guys have? It must take you all year to write your Christmas cards?" Sif gave a sigh, she wished she hadn't been given this assignment. Ella, unlike the last mortal Thor had brought from Midgard was not a threat to her relationship with him; this one was stupid.

"We're _Asgardians_ we don't really do _Christ_ mas. We have seasonal celebrations but Christianity and Birthdays are hardly irrelevant." She thought about her relationship with Thor, how they had played as children and how since those times of playing at 'Kings & Queens' she had desired him more with each passing year, over two thousands of them. "You're right living so long does lead to procrastination; but as for children, if you are truly Asgardian now you'll only be in season for about a month every seven years or so."

"Hell does that mean I'm going to be on for like a year at a time?" Sif was a young woman although a warrior. She could remember how the conversation with her own mother had gone, how her own mother had explained womanhood to her when she was on the cusp. She had never thought she would be repeating her mother's words so soon and even then not this girl rather to her own daughter. It was bad enough she had to teach her how to fight but was Thor really expecting her to teach her how to be a woman?

"In the shower with you girl; I have to take you for testing in an hour. Then we will know just exactly how Asgardian you are." Sif waved at an alcove and tiny clouds formed at its ceiling from where the sun seemed to emanate although the roof itself did not glow indeed the light didn't seem to have a source but Ella could see shadows under things. Ella stood and let the mail flow off her forming a puddle of chain on the floor, before picking off what was left of the undergarment the Dwarves had been so reluctant to provide. "That's curious." Sif stated taking a closer look at the discarded puddle of armour whilst Ella walked naked into the warm rain where rainbows leapt from place to place.

"Doesn't all Asgardian armour do that?" Ella asked.

"No it doesn't." Sif replied passing her the soap.


	15. Chapter 15:A testing time

"What are we testing today?" Eric asked Dr Chan.

"I.Q., Sexuality, Inter-sex and a mutant." She answered.

"The woman that really went for it yesterday; any idea why?"

"Her and her husband is struggling to conceive and she is on hormone therapy. That could have something to do with it but we'll need to do more testing. Today I would like you to ware this device; it will monitor your level of arousal so we can see if that has an effect also." She passed it to him.

"You know this isn't big enough." He joked; she smiled.

"It adjusts." She stated as she left the room "give me a wave when you're ready." He put it on and thought about waving his semi at the window but the two guards in his room and unknown observers in the room beyond the mirror deterred him. He pulled up the track suit bottoms, sat in the chair and waved at the window.

"Can't you relax a little more?" Chan asked him via speakers concealed somewhere. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry. You'll have to take this as a baseline." A few minutes later subject 2-01 entered.

"So what do you think?" Tony asked Pepper and a few of his associates.

"It's clearly an 8-0-4, I mean let's be honest does anyone have a clue?" A curly ginger haired man answered breaking what had become an uncomfortable pause.

"It says in the write up it was designed by a Dr Brahe, it works but it doesn't say how. It doesn't even say it's classified." Pepper elucidated. "The previous Valkyrie had fuel cell problems that caused them to fatally malfunction, this man just seemed to turn up with a solution, well four of them to be precise and then disappeared again."

"Is it Hydra? Perhaps Tesseract technology left over from the war or from the recent S.H.I.E.L.D. developments?" Tony speculated.

"No it's something new, something alien?" the ginger technician answered.

"Are there any pictures of Brahe?" Tony asked.

"Plenty, he didn't seem bothered about covering his tracks." Pepper replied.

"Is he always the same?"

"What's your thinking?" Pepper asked trying to clarify what it was she was looking for.

"Just a hunch it seems this is a complex plan that involves Asgardians, Asgardian Dwarves, Badoon, Skrull and that's just the ones I'm aware of I was just wondering if it was Skrull-tech?" The ginger man and several other aids shrugged. They were the best in their fields but their experience with alien tech was still very limited.

"Well how did I do?" Ella asked Sif.

"One thing's for certain you're not Asgardian. Fandral will be around with the scientific assessment later but basically from the physical testing it's obvious you're NOT Asgardian."

"Why not? How did I fail?"

"It wasn't really a pass or fail test, more a spectrum, various degrees of" Sif ran out of words she was going to say Asgardianess but that made no sense "Heroism." She concluded after a meaningful pause. She looked at the scroll she had been given to debrief Ella.

"Asgardians are strong" she pointed out "An average female can press around 25 tons your just under a hundredth of that, but that's still good for a human girl." She could see Ella was disappointed, she would try to sweeten the report as much as possible.

"and we're very fast able to run much faster than the finest human athlete. You can do almost 22 kilometers the fastest human on record is about 46 in a full on sprint, but it's still well above the norm for humanity." Sif consoled her.

"I thought my sprint was faster?" Ella queried.

"Oh yes!" Sif shouted joyously, finally there was something encouraging in the report "80 kilometers' per hour; much faster. Sorry I was reading the sustained running speed, but the sprints almost up to Cheetah standard. Stamina wise you're in the Asgardian area, but then your peak performance is so much well below ours your hardly working anyhow."

"But I am super heavy right?"

"Yes, but not really you weigh about twice what one would expect whilst a real Asgardian, like myself weighs around 188 kilos around three times that of an equivalently sized human. Which probably explains why you're more vulnerable to: impact forces, temperature and pressure extremes than us, but still much better than a human."

"So I'm a kind of half Asgardian then?" Ella asked clutching at straws.

"No I wouldn't say as far along the scale as half, maybe somewhere between a quarter and an eighth for most things." Ella looked dejected, almost to the point of tears. "That's still really good for a human though, and look at all the other stuff you can do?"

"What stuff?"

"All the things that aren't on this report; Fandral will be around soon with the report on Science and magic, I'm guessing that will be good." Sif lied; she just wanted to be out of here well away from the skinny moany girl. "Why don't you have another shower to freshen up? Ella undressed and spent several minutes looking for a wash bin. Eventually she dumped the ill-fitting clothes she had been given on the floor. She waved her hand at the shower alcove; nothing happened. She waved again, still nothing; she put her arm in and waggled it about frantically trying to locate the sensor but to no avail. She called out for Sif but she had already made her escape.

"Fuck!" She vented in frustration at being less than Asgardian. "I can't even work the fucking shower!"

"Not a problem" stated Fandral waving his hand at the space, instantly the clouds formed and, unlike before, a sweet fragrance filled the air. "Do you want me to read this to you whilst you wash?" She was naked, in front of him but he didn't seem phased. She knew little of Asgardian society and custom and thought this level of nudism must be acceptable in private quarters, certainly no one else she had seen had been naked. Most wore armour. Her muscles that had instantly tensed at his presence and her vulnerability relaxed. This wasn't her first foray into naturism. She picked up the soap and stood in the perfumed rain. He sat on the bed facing her watched and read.

"Whilst Asgardians have a highly advanced metabolism enabling us to recover very fast you do not." Great start she thought "But you do have a strange form of white blood cells that act like stem cells directed to a point of injury they become whatever is needed to effect recovery. It says here you don't make many each day though. They estimate a month to regrow an arm. Your probably immune to most of Midgard's diseases and will age slowly. Estimate age at death five hundred and sixty three unless something kills you. You like us are definitely not immortal."

"So I'm not immortal. I have an incept date just like a replicant but age slowly not burning brightly, but not as slow as you?" The Blade runner reference was completely lost on Sif but she seem to understand the cultural reference somehow.

"That's right." Fandral confirmed "I hope you don't mind me asking but your woad doesn't seem to be washing off."

"My what?"

"The woad on your shoulders and arms." He stood, put down his scroll, and approached her. "Here" he said rubbing a thumb against her upper arm as if trying to wipe away her tattoo. He began to trace the intricate knot work pattern with the tip of his finger.

"Oh no that's a tattoo. They're done by injecting ink under the skin with a needle, it's permanent. Well sort of permanent you can get them burnt off with a laser these days but traditionally they're permanent. Can you wash my back, I can reach but I can't apply much pressure?" He didn't answer but she gave him the soap and cloth so he could comply.

"So what are these patterns? Do they have meaning?" He began to trace the stylised knot work with a finger. "It is quite an intricate design." The soap slipped from his hand and they both crouched to retrieve it. "Is that some kind of jewellery?" He asked wide eyed and clearly shocked. Instinctively she slammed her knees together, unbalancing herself and falling into him. He held her and helped her back to her feet. She suddenly felt naked and vulnerable again.

"I think I'm done could you find me a towel?" He could sense an embarrassment and apprehension that had seemingly come from no-where.

"Yes of course. I'll get one for you." As he stood up in front of her partially crouched, tight legged, form she could not help but notice his bulge. He left if a little awkwardly. She ran from the shower and quickly pulled down one side of Sif's drapes and wrapped herself in them like a toga. Fandral returned with a couple of towels. "I think Sif quite liked her curtains." Ella hadn't noticed how sparse the furnishings for this room were, she was beginning to long for an apartment full of clutter everywhere had been so minimalist. There was nowhere to sit other than the bed. She gestured to the bed trying to be as unprovocative as possible and he sat down throwing her a towel and picking up the scroll he had been reading from in a singular graceful motion.

Her catch wasn't graceful, not graceful at all. She slipped on the wet floor and ended up sprawled in front of him. "Oh yes" he asked as if he had forgotten "I guess the rings aren't cosmetic, it's not as if many people would get to see them." She managed to counter her natural instincts it seemed pretty pointless but arranged herself carefully so she was not on display rather than acting as if she was ashamed after all that was part of the point of them.

"When I was younger I was raped." She explained. Fandral stayed silent it was not a statement that was easy to have a conversation about 'sorry to hear that' hardly cut it as a reply and it was all he could think of. "I decided to get my labia pierced as a symbolic way of re-establishing my ownership of my body, well that bit anyhow."

"And the 'tattoos'?" Fandral asked desperate to move the conversation on.

"They are cosmetic" she explained just nice tribal designs that have been recreated using the Celtic knot work motif. "I take it Asgardians don't do tats' or piercings?"

"No. It's not something we do. The frost giants are quite fond of scarification and the trolls brand their slaves to show ownership, but no these are new ideas." He glanced at the scroll "Where did I get to?"

"The bit about me not being immortal."

"Loviatar the symbiant life form that's been implanted is new to us. The librarians haven't seen anything like it."

"How do you know its name?" Ella asked.

"We asked it." Fandral stated all matter of fact "We Asgardians have an enchanted ability called 'allspeak' that enables us to understand and be understood by all other sentient creatures with a developed language form, like you and Loviatar."

"So I can actually speak to my organ, have a conversation?" Surely not; she'd tried.

"No. You're not Asgardian you don't have allspeak." Ella probably looked dejected she certainly felt it but clearly even without words Fandral understood her.

"If you want to have a natter I can translate for you?"

'Eric any chance you could come to the main gate?' Donald asked.

'Are you here? What are you doing here?'

'I thought I'd drop off the artifacts so you had something to wear and we could complete Ella's ring task.' Donald explained.

'Ring task?'

'Ella was told to give the fifth ring to the Finish Valkyrie.' Donald reminded him.

'Yeah sorry I forgot it's been a busy day and I've been a bit distracted and I can't get away unnoticed at present. There's only one more test subject.'

'No problem I don't mind waiting around in the rain.'

The door opened and in walked a young girl, a very young girl probably little more than a teen if that. She had very unusual looks, huge buck teeth protruding from her soft moist lips and an alarming lack of make-up.

"OK what am I supposed to do now?" She chittered.

"Can you sit opposite the test subject and have a conversation? Report back any unusual thoughts or feelings you have, anything unexplained." Dr Chan's voice spoke from nowhere. With a confident stroll she ignored the guards the other subjects had either been intimidated or restrained by. She picked up the chair spun it in her hand and mounted it legs astride arms folded across the backrest. She tried to prop her chest atop her arms but there was insufficient as yet to do so.

"So are you some kind of mind-fuck?" She asked Eric.

"I'm not really certain what I am and neither are they." Eric responded. She squirmed uncomfortably.

"I'm feeling a bit hot and awkward." She stated addressing the mirrored wall, rather than him.

"Awkward how?" the wall replied.

"Just awkward." She replied blushing a little more then turning to Eric asked "Do you mind if I take my tail out?"

"No by all means." Eric acknowledged. She pulled up her sweat and t-shirts together until she had almost exposed her proto-breasts in their double A training bra. Eric felt uncomfortable this girl was too young and Chan was next door with an arousal meter that was probably starting to beep or whatever it did. He tried to think about something else but the only thing that came to mind was yesterday's fabulous fuck with Chan. He felt it ooze and shuffled in his seat uncomfortably. As she lowered her clothes once more a huge furry tail rose behind her head like a cobra head rising to strike.

"How old are you?" The girl asked.

"Early thirties" He answered "Too old for you." He didn't know why he said it, he just did. It was almost a challenge, a chat up line, an unintended question.

"I'm feeling very awkward." She stated talking to the mirror again.

"Awkward how?" Eric asked.

"Yes" she gasped, flustered, her cheeks aglow, "Too old, definitely too old!" she dismounted the chair then quickly sat again crossing her legs tightly. "Fuck, too fucking old!" Then suddenly her demeanour changed, she calmed uncrossed her legs and asked "I really don't want to be a virgin anymore. Would you mind?" Panicked Eric looked at the mirror pleadingly, that device had to be screaming at Chan by now.

"Get her out." Chan instructed the guards who responded instantly but so did she. The first guard hit the far wall inverted by her throw then dropped a meter onto his head; instantly unconscious. She kicked the second guard where it hurts then as he drew his stun baton she fell on his arm and wrestled it from his grip. She clearly had: cuteness, the element of surprise and a level of strength and skill that far exceeded her schoolgirl cheerleader looks. She bit through the second guards belt pulled down his trousers and inserted the buzzing baton; he collapsed into a screaming silence. The door opened and four more guards entered. They seemed better prepared than the first but they too were unable to cope with the ferocity of a schoolgirl desperate to lose her virginity. Eric however had made it out of the room slamming the door behind him, it locked. He found the observation room where Chan and several others had been watching the carnage beyond. The girl with the teeth and the tail held an unconscious victim up at the mirror teeth poised by his neck like a vampire.

"You get my cock back in here now or I start biting heads off!" She screamed. Chan looked at Eric.

"Your call, its extraordinary circumstances, you won't be held accountable." Eric asked Chan and her team not to watch before returning to the room to neutralise the Bunny Boiler.


End file.
